


I'm Lost, Someone Help Me

by Raquelita



Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Falling In Love, Fluff, Love, Love at First Sight, Multi, Music, Mystery, Paula gets lost, Sergio the mystery man
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:41:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 33,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26652355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raquelita/pseuds/Raquelita
Summary: Everyone says stranger danger but what do you say when one helps you. Do you figure out if they're dangerous by no longer making them a stranger.au: Paula gets lost and is found stranger by the name of Sergio, Paula is returned to Raquel and now she is left with a mystery man.*ON BREAK*
Relationships: Raquel Murillo/Professor | Sergio Marquina
Comments: 179
Kudos: 217





	1. Paula, where are you?

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone, thank you for giving this fic a chance. I woke up this morning and wrote this when the idea came into my mind and I think it's pretty good, I hope you think so too.  
> <3

One day during spring break Raquel brought Paula to the local park. At the playground, they went on the swings, Paula went down all the slides and later decided to go on a walk. They were walking on a trail and Paula kept running in front of her to look at all the flowers and Raquel kept having to call for her to slow down. They continued walking till she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket, she looked at the contact and saw that it was her ex-husband Alberto.

‘fuck’ she said in her mind, ‘what does he want now’ thinking about him made her space out. She watched her phone as the ringing soon stopped then she looked up to find Paula. “Paula” she called out and looked around for her “Paula?” she called again “Paula!” she said more urgently panic starting to rise to her chest. “Paula sweetie where are you!” she was franticly looking for her ‘where are you baby, where are you?!” 

It's been 15 minutes since she lost Paula and Raquel has been running around in a panic looking for her asking if anyone has seen her babygirl. Tears already streaming down her face, fear and panic consumed her. ‘where are you Paula?’ Once she wiped her tears, she saw a tall man talking to Paula walking with her towards her direction. “mama!” the little one yelled and the man pushed up his glasses and looked up at her relieved, ‘relieved why is he relieved, that kidnapping ass!’

Raquel ran at full force pushing the man away from her daughter and punching him straight in the face making his glasses fly and pinning him to a nearby tree with his arms behind him. “mama what are you doing” the little one yelled trying to pull her off him but Raquel ignored her “what are you doing with my daughter you sick basterd” she spat through her teeth pushing him harder against the tree. “I- I-” he tried to say something, but Paula interrupted him “mama stop he was trying to help me find you” “sure he was” she shouted “No really! We even tried calling you, but you didn’t answer” she pleaded back, she loosened her grip on him to grab her phone and sure enough there were 3 missed calls from an unknown number. She remembered she put her phone on do not disturb to ignore Alberto’s calls but instead it just ignored her daughter’s cry for help. 

She let go of him and he straightened himself and rubbed his now bruising face, “is that true” she questioned him without apologizing, 

“yes” he replied looking at the ground. 

“tell me what happened” she asked them both.

“well I ran forward looking at the flowers and when I looked back you weren't behind me” 

“Paula I told you not to run off in the first place!” Paula then looked down guilty.

“Then what happened after” and she continued,

“well a man came up to me and ask me if I was lost” then Raquel looked at the man and he squinted back. 

“he asked me if I wanted to come back to his house nearby and wait for you”

“he said what!” she shot a dirty look at him as he continued to squint at her and the ground. 

“Mama wait, before the man could keep talking, Sergio came up to me saying “sweety there you are” and pulled me away from him and then told me his name and told me to keep walking because that man was trying to kidnap me.” she looked back at her daughter as she continued 

“as soon as we walked away from the stranger Sergio gave me his phone to call you and when you didn’t answer we started walking back to where I last saw you and now here we are”

she looked at the man in disbelief and a little guilt for injuring the man that returned her baby. “Is that true?” he looked up at her eyes still squinted and nodded yes. “then why the hell do you keep looking at me like that” she spat back still angry and that made him falter “sorry what” he asked, “why do you keep looking at me like that and squinting at me?” she said with an angry tone. “I- I'm sorry it’s just that you, um knocked off my glasses when you punched me, and I can’t really see.” he said shyly, then it dawned on her she attacked an innocent man and blinded him. 

“oh my god I'm sorry, I'm so sorry” she then searched for his glasses and found them cracked on the ground she picked them up and handed them to him “i’m so sorry I am so so sorry!” she could see his eyes go glassy as he looked at them, he responded with an “it’s okay” but she could tell that it really wasn’t and it wasn’t her place to ask, as he slipped them into his pocket. “is there anything I can do for you? Can I pay you back?” she still hasn’t even gotten the chance to thank him yet. “Well um, I drove here, and I don’t think it would be safe for me too drive back when everything looks fuzzy.” “no no no ill drive you wherever you need to go” she hastily replied “a cab would be fine, thank you” he said back but she insisted “no it’s totally fine if I drive you, It would be the least I could do.” “well If you don’t mind, a ride would be great.” 

They walked towards her car and Paula would occasionally laugh at Sergio whenever he would almost accidentally walk into someone. From the outside, this would look like a normal family she thought to herself as Paula continued to laugh and tease Sergio as he blushed shyly. ‘What the hell am I saying, he’s just a stranger.’ But as they were walking, Raquel finally got the chance to look at him properly. He was tall with broad shoulders, overly dressed in a suit, he had medium length black hair, and a well trimmed beard. She had to admit that he was pretty handsome and that he had a shy personality that was super cute. ‘Pretty handsome! Raquel he’s freaking gorgeous. Cute! Come on Raquel he's freaking adorable.’ But when Paula told him a joke, he genuinely smiled with his perfect teeth and his dimples appeared, her knees went weak and she stumbled. They both looked at her and she just waved them off. 

When they arrived at the car, Sergio gave her an address and she told Sergio to get into the front seat and he agreed and now she had a full view of him. ‘god he was so stiff’ she said to herself so she decided to play some music, “what music do you listen too?” “uh well um I listen to shirataki, it’s traditional Greek music and um” he hesitated before continuing, “and classical music” Paula then laughed at him and he blushed furiously.

“Paula!” she scolded. “that’s interesting, are you Greek?” she asked trying to make conversation, “well no, I just like it” “classical is good too” she looked at Paula through the mirror, “we all have our preferences” and she looked back at him in time to see his grateful but shy, adorable smile and how his shoulders loosened up, She couldn’t help but smile back. 

“well since we can tell Paula wouldn’t appreciate your taste, how about we listen to my favourite artist?” she looked at all of them and they nodded “great, I guess we’re listening to Van Morrison” she cheered and then Sergio looked at her “umm, who’s Van Morrison” and she gasped loudly and the fear that came to his face when he hastily said “I'm sorry I know, I suck, it’s embarrassing” and closed his eyes tightly. ‘god this man Is so cute’ “No Sergio it’s okay, I was exaggerating, most people don’t even listen to him these day’s” she watched him as he said that and saw him shiver as she said his name and then opened his eyes and relaxed. She connected her phone and started playing “Brown eyed girl” and sang along, as she sang and drove, she could feel him watching her, not ogling like others, but with what she would describe as adoring eyes and a real smile on his face. She could only imagine what he was thinking. 

(meanwhile in Sergio’s thoughts) 

‘She is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! Did heaven just send me and angel? What did I do to experience this angel singing? Her voice sounds like home, so warm. Her hair is so beautiful, she is so beautiful. Her eyes are like pools of honey. I am thankful I found that girl and got to experience this, this moment, this very special moment. Hold on, why am I feeling like this, I usually don’t like talking to people, what's happening?’ 

As they continued to drive, no one noticed how much time has passed as they have been laughing, and Raquel and Paula were singing as Sergio happily listened. It has almost been a 30 minute drive, but it wasn’t like Raquel cared, this was the most she's laughed in a long time and she has been enjoying it with good company. 

Sergio’s mood has shifted a bit from before when he was super tense and quiet, he’s been relaxed, talking more than before and cracking an occasional joke. She can’t lie and say she didn’t enjoy his presence, it felt like something clicked and it feels like they’ve known each other for a long time though it's been about 40 minutes. 

Five minutes later the sun began to set, and they were nearing Sergio’s destination, it was in a remote area and Raquel had to ask him multiple times if they were headed in the right direction. Just about a minute later, Sergio asked her to stop the car and that he would walk the rest of the way, but she refused.

“why would I let you walk, it’s getting dark!” 

“it’s fine it’s just a little ahead” he replied

“exactly, just let me drive you there, please” 

Sergio looked into her eyes with a serious look “Raquel please, stop the car” and she obliged “Sergio” she said as he gathered his things, he didn’t look at her but said “there’s a roundabout just up ahead, please get home safely and Raquel,” he finally looked up at her “thank you” and left but before he did she discreetly snook a 50 euro bill in his bag. She drove past him and that’s when she saw a gate with a symbol of two lions on it, ‘that looks so familiar’ but she didn’t give it much thought and turned on the roundabout and Sergio was already gone. Paula has been asleep since about halfway through their way there, so Raquel was driving alone with her thought’s, her thoughts about Sergio. 

‘Sergio is such a sweety, but why did he act like that earlier’. ‘It was almost as if he was hiding something’ and Raquel wanted to be the one to solve it. 

After driving home and going on with her dinnertime routine her thoughts stayed on him, his smile, his laugh, his kindness- oh gosh I forgot to thank him properly. As soon as she put Paula down she hopped into bed pulling out her phone and texting the unknown number. 

“Sergio?”-R 

A few minutes later he replied. 

“Raquel?”-S 

“Hi Sergio, I just wanted to say thank you for finding Paula”-R 

“Hello Raquel, don’t worry it was no problem”-S 

“I should also be saying thank you”-S 

“What for?”-R 

“Driving me and for the company”-S 

Ah so he enjoyed my company she said to herself with a smirk. 

“You saved my daughter and I pinned you against the tree, punched you and broke your glasses and your saying thank you?”-R 

“what can I say, that was quite exciting it felt like I was being arrested.”-S 

“omg I'm so sorry, but you know what your instincts are correct because I am a cop”-R 

“no wonder it felt so real”-S 

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is a middle aged man doing at a park in the middle of the day all alone”-R 

It took him a minute to reply 

“I was just there to get some fresh air and to read a good book”-S 

“hmm sounds relaxing”-R 

“Sergio can I say something?”-R 

“fire away”-S 

“I noticed that you were upset about your glasses, again I’m really sorry but I can’t help but think there was more to it than just broken glass”-R 

“Raquel stop apologizing you were just being a mother and your instincts were right, those glasses did have a deeper meaning”-S 

“you don’t have to explain if you don’t want to”-R 

“no, it’s fine, it’s just that they were my first pair of glasses that my father bought for me even though we didn’t have much money”-S 

“Your first pair!”-R 

“Sergio I'm so sorry!”-R 

“Raquel please it’s fine”-S 

“I actually think that I have something that belongs to you”-S 

And curiosity sparked her out of the guilt she was feeling 

“what?”-R 

“Just something along the lines of 50 euros”-S 

“oh, about that, I knew you wouldn’t take my money, so I just snuck it into your bag”-R 

“yes, your right, I'm not going to take your money. I intend to give it back to you somehow”-S 

“how about dinner?”-R 

“Dinner as in a date?”-S 

“Yes?”-R 

She threw her phone as soon as it sent, ‘fuck what did I just do, why isn’t he replying? I really messed up didn’t I' and when she heard her phone buzz again, she grabbed her phone. 

“dinner sounds great”-S 

She let out a breath 

“so, about dinner...”-S 

Her breath hitched again

“What place did you have in mind”-S 

Another breath of relief

“how about the Hanoi?”-R 

“The Hanoi, I couldn’t think of anything better, that’s my favourite café"-S 

“me too!”-R 

“How does Friday sound, 8:00?”-S 

“That sounds great”-R 

“Great”-S 

“Goodnight Sergio”-R 

“Goodnight Raquel”-S 

She put down her phone and fell back onto her bed. 

3 more days till she sees Sergio, 70 more hours till she sees him again. Wait, am I going to fast? No, I'm not I'm just going on a date with someone I just met. I'll know more about him soon, hopefully. Then she fell asleep. 

On the other side of Madrid 

“Andres, I told you I'm not moving to France and that’s final!”


	2. Inspectora I need your help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starting with the day after, leading towards their date, but the date get's interrupted by an urgent call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I told you I get a new chapter out soon!  
> This chapter is full of back to back conversations so bare with me.
> 
> I'm sort of writing two stories at once so I might be posting a new series soon, who knows.
> 
> Also don't forget you can find me @lcdp_moneyheist_ on Instagram, it would be super nice to connect with you all <3

“Andres I can’t believe I accepted to go on a date! I’m such an idiot, I can’t- I can’t talk to people.” he said with a sigh 

“I also can’t believe you accepted, look at you hermanito, you’re all grown up” Andres said wiping his non-existent tears 

“Just shut up and help me” 

“Fine, hand me your phone” 

****** 

Raquel woke up late in the morning when her phone buzzed from a text beside her. She lazily picked up her phone but then immediately sat up seeing who it was from, Sergio. 

“Goodmorning Raquel”-S 

“Goodmorning”-S 

Raquel was super flattered to wake up to a “Goodmorning” text even if it was from a stranger. 

“So, I’ve been thinking about our dinner date”-S 

‘Oh no, did he want to cancel, please don’t.’ Though Raquel seemed very brave about suggesting a date, the truth is that she was scared, this would be her first date in 8 years with anyone besides her family and she was finally giving men another chance. She stared at her phone waiting for him to continue silently whispering “please don’t cancel, please don’t cancel” 

“I was just wondering how you were getting there and where would Paula go?”-S 

A wave of relief washed over her 

“I’m just going to leave Paula with a babysitter and then I think I’ll just catch a cab” 

“Nonsense”-S

“?”-R

“Let me pick you up”-S

“No it’s fine, Hanoi would be a center point for us to meet”-R

“Let me pick you up please”-S 

“I promise you won’t regret it”-S 

“Okay fine, my house is at 36 southgate ave”-R

“Great, I'll pick you up around 7:00”-S 

“Sounds good”-R 

“Bye”-S 

“Bye”-R 

What a fantastic way to start her day. She got up with a smile and started her morning routine. 

****** 

“There you go, now you know her address and you’re going to be picking her up” 

“Thank you” he replied grabbing his phone from him 

“Listen hermanito, how about we let bygones be bygones. Forget what I said last night and just reconsider, maybe you could bring this woman and child with you to keep you company.” 

“One, I’m still not changing my mind, two shut up I just met her and three, please let yourself out before I return.” 

“Where are you going?” 

“I just have to run some errands” 

“Sure, have fun” 

“Whatever” 

****** 

About an hour later 

“So, Paula what do you want to do today, I was think we could just stay inside and watch movies” Raquel said to Paula during their little brunch. 

“Yes, that sounds great!” Paula agreed “But do you not have work” 

“Well sweetie the surprise is that I don’t have work this whole week. This week is just for you and me.” she said pinching the little one's cheeks. "except for Friday night.” 

“Why what’s Friday night?” 

“I’m just going out with a friend” 

“Okay... Anyways, what movie are we watching” 

Raquel laughed “How about you go to the living room and look for one while I clean up here okay.” 

“Okay” and she jumped out of her seat and skipped to the living room. 

While Raquel was washing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen when the doorbell rang. “mama someone's at the door, should I answer it?” she yelled from the other room, “No just wait for me I’ll be there in a second.” She wiped her hands dry and headed to the door, she opened it, but no one was there, she then looked down and saw a bouquet of white lilies and pink roses delicately placed on her doorstep. She bent down to pick them up and saw a little tag on the side saying “To: Raquel From: S” “mama who’s there!” “no one sweety, I just have to make a few calls I’ll be right back” “okay” Raquel headed to her room and whipped out her phone. 

“Sergio?"-R

“Hello Raquel”-S 

“Are these from you?”-R 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about”-S

“These flowers?”-R 

“Ah the flowers, Perhaps”-S 

“Thank you, that was very sweet ;)"-R 

“I was just in the neighborhood and decided to drop by"-S 

“That’s very kind”-R 

“How much were they”-R 

“It doesn’t matter”-S 

“Just tell me”-R 

“Okay fine, about 50 euros”-S

“50 euros! Sergio you didn’t have to”-R 

“wait 50 euros, did you just use my money?”-R 

“What of course not!”=S

“It was just a gift from me, I’ll give you your 50 euros on Friday”-S 

“Just use it to pay for the bill”-R 

“I’m paying for dinner don’t worry”-s

“You’ll pay for it? You don’t even know how much I'll spend” -R

“It doesn’t matter, you could buy the whole café for all I care”-S

“Is there something you're not telling me?”-R

“What do you mean?”-S

“Something along the lines of you being filthy rich”=R 

“haha you’ll have to figure that out”-S 

“I’m sorry I have to go I have a meeting”-S

“No, no you go”-R 

“I’ll talk to you later?”-S 

“yeah sure, bye”-R 

“Bye”-S 

As soon as they finished talking Raquel dialed Alicia her best friends updating her on the sweet stranger she met and asked her if she could watch Paula because she’s got a date! She then returned to the kitchen and places the flowers in a vase then runs to the living room throwing herself on the couch and starts to watch movies with her little baby. 

******  
Two days later: the day of the date 

For the last couple of days, Sergio has been “passing by her house” leaving sweet presents. A bouquet of flowers on the first, some chocolates and a stuffed toy for Paula on the second and this morning he gave her a few baked goods from her favorite bakery as discussed via text. 

Raquel has been getting to know him better, how he’s in the cider business and promising to let her try his sometime, his favorite books, songs and was surprised when he said he started listening to Van Morrison. Small things like this warmed her heart and she felt butterflies in her stomach as he took such interest in her answers. 

About an hour before the pickup time, she got a call from Sergio. 

“Inspectora, what are you wearing?” 

During these days of talking, Sergio has given her the nick name “inspectora” because of her profession and every time he used it, she would feel a tingle go down her spine especially when he said it in his deep voice through the phone. 

“it’s a surprise” she said cheekily “aw come on” he begged “you’ll have to come over and find out” she said and hung up leaving him hanging. 

About half an hour later she heard the doorbell ring, she ran down stair expecting for it to be Sergio but opened it up to see Alicia. “Raquel!” “Alicia!” and they two women embraced “where is my little god-daughter" she pushed past Raquel to find the little girl “auntie Alicia!” the little one squealed and threw herself at her, she picked her up and looked at Raquel “now you can go have fun while me and Paulita have a blast, isn’t that right” she said pinching Paula’s cheeks and Raquel sighed “Not too much fun it may be spring break but I still want her asleep by 12:00” “And won't you be back by then” Alicia said with a smirk then continued "You can come home whenever, I'm sleeping over” and winked earning an eye roll from Raquel. 

Raquel looked at the time and it was 7:00, “shit I- I mean oh no” she corrected herself in front of her daughter “I forgot my phone upstairs I'll be right back” and she ran up the stairs not even noticing how the doorbell ring. Alicia called for her but it was no use, so she opted on opening the door. 

“Good evening Ra-” he froze seeing the person at the door was in fact not Raquel he was holding a bouquet of flowers to the red hair woman and pulled it back down. “Sorry um, I’m looking for Raquel” “Hi Sergio!” Paula popped her head in “Hi Paula!” he greeted in the same enthusiasm “my mom is just grabbing her phone” “Ah okay” and he turned back to look at the red haired woman, he gestured his hand to her “Hi I'm-” and he was interrupted “Sergio yes I know, she loves talking about you, so you better treat her right, you hear me” “uh yes, yes of course” 

Raquel came downstairs witnessing her date being interrogated and decided intervene, “Alicia this is Sergio, Sergio this is Alicia my best friend, she’ll be taking care of Paula.” “Yes, I got that” looking at the ground, “Why don’t you guys go start your fun, I’ll see you later, bye sweetie” she said kissing Paula on the head then hugged her friends bye leaving them alone. 

Sergio looked up at Raquel and his mouth was agape “Raquel y- you look beautiful” he breathed out “You look rather handsome yourself” she said smiling. He handed her the flowers and she said “Sergio your spoiling me you don’t have to keep giving me gifts” he just smiled and she added “wait for me I'll be right back I'm just going to put these inside” 

When she came outside, he got a better look at her. She was wearing a pink top, a skirt and a black jacket and made it look like she was a model walking out of a magazine. He offered his hand, and she took it walking her to the car. 

“Sergio is this our ride?” she said surprised looking at the long limousine prepared just for them. 

“Yes, it is” he said while opening the door for her to get in. 

When they got in, she looked at him “don’t tell me your stupid rich” “No, no I just had this prepared for us. I wanted to make it special.” he replied “that’s very sweet of you” she said moving her hand to his on his lap sensing his tense demeanor and she squeezed it and he did the same. 

They drove for a bit and arrived at Hanoi, of course he got out first and held his hand out for her to help her get out. They walked inside and were seated at a both beside a window, they ordered their drink and started chatting. They talked, but it wasn’t like how they texted. This time they weren’t hiding behind a screen and she could see how they both talked a little shyly till he asked, “When are we going to stop being so formal?” and she looked at him with a little grin, “When you tell me your last name” “Well inspectora, I can’t tell you right now, but I can assure you you’ll most likely find out soon” “hmmm why?” she said with a bit of pout and he laughed, “just wait.” ‘I do love a good mystery’ she said to herself. 

“So why aren’t you wearing your glasses?” “well um, they’re still getting fixed so I wore my contacts” “Oh my, I'm sorry” “Inspectora I told you to stop apologizing or next time you’ll be punished” ‘woah that took a fast turn’ she looked down flustered and he hurried to correct himself, “I- I mean just please stop apologizing” and she looked back up at him and he was blushing furiously. She laughed and he joined in, once they caught their breaths Sergio’s phone began to ring. 

“I’m sorry I have to take this” he picked up his phone and his smile faded into a serious expression “WHAT! I'm on my way” he hung up and looked at Raquel, her once lighthearted expression long gone with his “what’s wrong?” “My security team said that both my gate and my front door are open, and they aren’t sure if someone broke in” he said urgently “Then what are you waiting for let’s go!” she said while signaling the waiter for the bill. The waiter arrived, and Sergio mindlessly tapped his card without looking. They rushed outside after Sergio called for the limo to come and pick them up and he turned to her and said “do you want me to drive you home first?” and she looked at him dumbfounded by his priorities “Are you nuts! Just take me with you, I’m a cop anyways” and he nodded. 

When the limo arrived, there was no time for pleasantries, they jumped in and he demanded “Take me home asap” and he replied “Yes Mr. Marquina”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading <3  
> Don't forget to comment, I love hearing your thoughts and replying and maybe leave kudos if you enjoyed it <3


	3. Mr. Sergio Marquina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raquel finds out Sergio's identity as they drive to his house, Raquel gets to see who he really is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ya'll, I meant to update sooner but school kept me busy when I was editing the story,  
> before you start reading, I just want to apologize for any writing mistakes because I don't have any help and I write alone. This chapter is a tiny bit shorter but I hope this chapter makes up for it. <3
> 
> You can also find me @lcdp_moneyheist_ I'd love to connect with you all <3

“Take me home asap” and he replied “Yes Mr. Marquina” 

Sergio plopped back onto his seat nervously scratching the cushion, “Mr. Marquina?” Raquel said to him and he looked at her. “yeah” he sighed “Looks like that secret it out” he looked a little disappointed so she tried to change the subject. “Why don’t you call the police?” and he quickly replied “As you know my house is in the middle of nowhere and most people don’t know about it and I'd like to keep it that way, besides I have my own little cop” he said smiling at her as she blushed.

“Well I'm not going to find any contraband there am I Mr. Sergio Marquina?” “Of cour-” she cut him off before he could answer, “hold on, you’re Sergio Marquina, the Sergio Marquina! The international supplier of one of the biggest cider companies in the world!” she looked at him agape and he sighed “Yes that’s me” “Why didn’t you tell me in the first place” “Well um because, you see, there are people who will only take interest in me because of my money” “Oh Sergio” she said cupping his face with one hand “At least you know I'm not after that” she said with a smile “You don’t mind do you?” he asked “Of course not, there were some signs that you had money especially this evening. I’m no Sherlock Holms but I had an assumption, you paid for dinner without even looking how much it was, you have a security team, you have a gate to your house which isn’t common, and I'm assuming that this isn’t a rented limo and that it’s your own.”

He looked at her surprised “you’re absolutely right inspectora” and she continued “But that’s not what I was after and you know that” he covered her hand with his still rested on his cheek and she leaned in to kiss him on the other and he blushed furiously. The driver announced that they have arrived they drove towards the gate with a symbol of two lions on it, the logo of the cider company. The driver clicked a button to open the front gate and Raquel ask to stop the car “Why?” Sergio ask and she just replied with “Just trust me” and the car came to a stop. 

Raquel got out of the car and Sergio followed she stopped to inspect the gates and got back into the car and told them to keep going, “What was that?” asked Sergio “I was just checking something. They neared the house and Raquel’s eyes were glued outside of the window. 

Sergio’s mansion was surrounded by a wide open field and secluded by trees, a trail of light in the dark pointing towards a beautiful masterpiece, it was a two-story building that was immensely wide, a grand front entrance adorned with a sparkling water fountain, the house had more of a traditional feel to it with grand arches and vines along them. It was nighttime and she couldn’t see much but what she could see was that it was absolutely beautiful. 

The driver dropped them off and Sergio lead them to the door, he fumbled with keys and opened it while Raquel was inspecting it. When she finished, she turned to him “Well Sergio, luckily for you I have not seen any signs of forced entry in neither the gate nor the door.” “Thank god" he sighed “it appears that you forgot to lock the doors” “there’s no way, I remember locking it.” “Mr. Marquina” a man called from behind startling them, “hello Benjamin” he greeted, Benjemin was one of Sergio’s security guards. “Mr. Marquina, I'm so sorry for interrupting your, um date. It was a simple mistake; your brother came here and didn’t close or lock any of the doors” “That idiot” he whispered to himself “I will have to have a word with him” he announced “but how did no one notice?” 

“My men knew that he came and left but it took them a while to notice the unlocked doors and gate as we don’t do those rounds often, officer Roman called you right away before consulting me and when I found out, you were already here.” Benjamin reasoned “Ah I see, I think I need to have a word with him as well, this isn’t the first time.” “Again, I’m sorry for interrupting you, it will not happen again” “It’s alright, I think you can stay in post outside, I think I’ll be staying here for the rest of the night” “Are you not returning to your... date?” he said with a confused face till he gestured to the woman beside him “I will be continuing it here” “Ah okay, well enjoy yourselves lovebirds” and left the two to themselves. 

Sergio turned to Raquel “well I don’t want to assume anything, but I would like if you were to stay and continue our date after I cut it and the night is still young if you don’t mind.” “Oh Sergio, I would love to stay, and you didn’t ruin anything, you were just worried that you were robbed” she said wrapping her arms around his neck “and you’re cute when your nervous” and she kissed him on the cheek, again. “Well why don’t you give me a quick tour of the house and then we can continue with our date hmm, how does that sound?” “That sounds perfect” he replied swallowing hard and nodding.

They had a brief tour of his house not including his bedroom for many reasons and they decided on the idea of having a glass of wine by the firepit out in the back of his backyard. She was snuggled beside him in front of the fire, but she was still cold, and she shivered, Sergio immediately turned to her “Are you cold, do you want to go inside?” “No, I'm fine” she protested but her body said otherwise and shivered again “come on” he said getting up but before she could get on her own feet, he picked her up bridal style and carried her inside making her laugh. 

He sat her down on the sofa and put a soft blanket over her while went to prepare some tea for them, as he left, Raquel got up and began to explore the place and she spotted a record player and a vinyl disc that read Van Morrison. She ran her fingers along the covered a jumped when she heard Sergio behind her “I see you found the music collection along with my newest addition.” he smiled

“vinyl records, very fancy” she said as he grabbed the album from her “I’ve become fond of him; I think I like him” “you think you like him?” she questioned “okay, yes I like him” he confessed as he put the disk onto the player and lightly put the needle on it. The first song played was “moondance” Raquel started swaying her head humming, then moving her shoulders to the rhythm and she bounced them along with the beat singing along, Sergio was once again mesmerized by her as she continued singing. 

“Well, I wanna make love to you tonight  
I can't wait 'til the morning has come  
And I know now the time is just right  
And straight into my arms you will run” 

She sung pulling his arms towards her she stopped sing and said “dance with me” “I-I don’t know how” “well, let me teach you” she said putting his hands on her hips and her arms wrapped around him neck. She started to move them around with Sergio fumbling on his feet trying to follow, she made him look at her “Sergio relax, you’re too tense” and he replied “O-okay” by the end of the song he finally found his sense of rhythm, he was confidently leading the both them to the fast beat of the song. 

Raquel stepped back from him and restarted the song “let’s try this again, shall we” and Sergio was the first to initiate, grabbing her hands the started moving together, Sergio no longer watched his feet, he now looked into Raquel's eyes and her spine shivered from his look. He shimmied his shoulders making her laugh as the she sang the next lyrics: 

And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside  
And I know how much you want me that you can't hide 

And he joined in 

Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?  
Can I just make some more romance with you, my love? 

When the music instrumental came in Sergio Surprised Raquel by spinning her multiple times and continuing to dance pretty well. He spun her again before the singing started again and she landed directly chest to chest with him holding her tightly. They stared at each other as the song continued to play and started to sway much slower their eyes never leaving the others. 

There was a pause between the songs and all Raquel could mutter was “wow” and he replied with the same “yeah, wow” she pulled him closer, his arms still tightly wrapped around her waist as the next song “someone like you” started to play, much slower song, giving them a chance to really connect in dancing. 

“Raquel, you’re really... wow” and she leaned into his chest as they continued to sway, his chin resting on the top of her head and when the song came to an end, he took her face into his hands and closed the distance lightly pressing their lips together, he quickly backed off her and she stared back at him “I’m sorry I... I don’t know what I was thinking” she didn’t respond to him but pulled him back in for a another gentle kiss. He calmed down and lightly cupped her face again, the kiss was slow, testing the waters and gradually moved to Sergio sliding her jacket off her shoulders and picking her up off the ground and leading her to his room 

It ended with Raquel lying down in his bed with him holding her tightly basking in the afterglow. Her head was in the crook of his neck as he played with her hair, gently stroking it out of her face and running his fingers through it. He was the first to break the silence “I better take out my contacts, it’s not good to sleep with them” Raquel looked at him and giggled as she pulled him into another kiss, one that felt right, one that felt natural and like a normal thing to do. She pulled back with a little regret and said “I’m sorry but I can’t stay” and she began so get up and get dressed and Sergio sat up back rested on the headboard. 

“I have to get home to my daughter and as you know I have a guest” 

“Of course, of course” 

She scanned the room and noticed a piano. 

“That piano over there, do you play?” 

He stood up and picked his shirt off the ground and slipped on still unbuttoned and sat down positioning his fingers on the keys, he looked back at her and began to play the entertainer. His fingers gracefully swept over the keys not missing a single one, she came to sit next to him, and he scooted over without having to communicate. This felt so domestic, being beside him, him playing for her, it all seemed familiar and normal. When he finished the song, he turned to her with a look in his eyes showing that he felt the same and she pulled him in for quick kiss. 

She pulled back after a few moments,  
“I’d love to stay but...”  
“of course, let me take you home”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for making it to the end, I hope you enjoyed, let me know in the comments.  
> You can also give me some ideas of how you want the story to go <3


	4. the frequent visitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone sorry for the wait, school and other things are very annoying. I'm not very sure about this chapter, it's more bonding between Sergio and the Murillo's, it's kinda like a filler to buy time to figure out the next part of the story, and it's going to be rough mwahaha.
> 
> Sorry, this chapter might be a little messy, I don't have anyone to help read over them, so if you get confused sry

They got out of the house and the cold night breeze reminded Raquel that she left her blazer inside “Sergio, I left my jacket inside” he didn’t open the door again but shrugged of his suit jacket and drooped it on her shoulders and grabbed her hand “come on lets go” they neared his white BMW “after you dropped me off here I got someone to retrieve my car, gosh, that felt like yesterday” he said pulling her to her side of the car, then opened the door for her. He came to sit in the driver's seat and started the car further warming Raquel up by turning on the seat warmers. He started driving both hands on the steering wheel and one of them traveled and found her knee gently caressing it as she placed her own on top of his. 

After the long drive, they arrived at her house. Sergio accompanied her to the door and kissed her goodbye before leaving, as soon as Raquel closed the door, she drooped to the floor not believing what just happened. She glanced at the time and it was almost 12:00 pm as she was glad Alicia kept her promise of putting Paula to bed. She headed to her room not bothering to turn on any lights and plopped onto her bed but she felt something hard under here followed by a big “ouch” and she turned on the lamp beside the bed 

“Alicia?” 

“Yes, who else would it be” 

“Why are you in my bed?” 

“I told you I was sleeping over and I wanted to wait for you to come home. I turned off the lights to scare you, but it looks like you didn’t care” the redhead said. Raquel moved off of her and sat beside her on the bed “So... how was it” Alicia asked, and Raquel looked at her “No, don’t tell me it went bad, look at the time” “Alicia I have one word for that date, it was perfect” “Now tell me about it” she asked as Raquel got up to get up to change and that’s when she saw the blazer “OMG that’s not your blazer!” “No, it’s not” Raquel said with a smirk on her face “Quelsss tell me about it!” she yelled throwing a pillow at her, “shhh you’re going to wake up Paula” “then tell me!” she said throwing another pillow. “Fine but stop throwing my pillows” 

Raquel filled Alicia on everything about the date leaving her best friends mouth agape. 

“Yeah, that’s about it” Raquel finished her story 

“wow, just wow and what the hell” her friend said mouth hanging open “He... he’s the actually Sergio Marquina” 

“Yes” 

“Holy shit Raquel you just went on a date with one of the richest men in Spain!” 

“I know” 

“AND YOU LIKE HIM!” 

“yes I do” 

“AND HE LIKES YOU” 

“I hope he does” 

“Raquel are you an idiot, he clearly likes you!” 

“You think so?” 

“Raquel I know so!” 

They have been chatting for a couple hours now and it was almost 3:00 am when they decided to hit the hay. Raquel woke up and was surprised to see that Alicia was up before her, but when she checked the time, it was already 11:00. She scrambled out of bed and looked up when she heard the door creak open, 

“finally you’re awake, he really must have tired you out, I’ve never woken up before you” Alicia laughed “shut up will you” Raquel said wrapping herself in a cardigan. She fumbled with it and looked at what Alicia was holding, a cup of coffee from Hanoi, 

“Where did you get that?” “Oh what, this” she motioned at her cup, “I thought I told you there was a visitor for you downstairs” she said with a wink and closed the door behind her. 

Alicia sauntered downstairs quickly followed by Raquel, she was met with Sergio sitting down beside Paula eating breakfast with her. Sergio looked up at her and smiled, “good morning, coffee?” he said pointing his head to a tray with one coffee in it “good morning” Raquel said stunned and picked up the coffee, “You know that he was so kind and bought coffee for the three of us, he even bought Paula some white hot chocolate” Alicia said, and everyone smiled at Raquel “t-thank you” she muttered. 

“Good morning mami” Paula squealed and Raquel went to hug her “good morning mi vida” she then moved to Sergio and gave him a quick hug from behind and he whispered “you smell good” into her ear “Oh shut up” she said smacking him on the arm, “I didn’t even get the chance to shower yet” then Alicia spoke up “Or wake up for that matter” earning a little smile from Sergio “What makes you say that” Raquel said crossing her arms “pfft Raquel have you looked in the mirror” 

Raquel ran to the nearest mirror and screamed “ALICIA!” she had a major case of bed head accompanied by smudges of eyeliner from last night, she was going to kill Alicia later for not telling her sooner. She ran upstairs and freshened up as quick as she could, brushing her teeth, brushing her hair and washing her face. When she came back down, Paula was watching cartoons while Alicia whispered something into Sergio ear making him blush and laugh shyly, she could only imagine what embarrassing story she was telling him, so she interrupted them by clearing her throat. 

“Ah there is the Raquel I know” Alicia announced “I was just telling Sergio about how you told me how exhausted you were” she said with a sly grin “You what? Alicia!” but before Raquel could scold her Alicia said “Oh would you look at the time, I have to go” and she stood up and kissed Paula, hugged Raquel and gave Sergio a peck on the cheek. “Bye cuties” she yelled before slamming the door. 

Sergio looked at Raquel with wide eyes dumbfounded “Uh... she’s nice” he said and Raquel laughed “She’s always like that,” and sat next to him, 

“So what are you doing here” “well, I wanted to visit someone” he said blushing and Raquel looked at him with a shy grin till he shouted, “Isn’t that right chef!” 

She looked at him confused till the little girl came running into kitchen “Yes chef!” Paula said “Yes chef? What is going on?” Raquel asked “We made breakfast, Sergio was the lead chef, I was his right hand and bunny was our first customer” Paula spoke up Holding up a new bunny plush “Sergio got him for me, isn’t it cute” Raquel stared at Sergio and Paula and finally managed to say something “Y-yes” Sergio grabbed a plate from handed it to Raquel. It was an eggs benedict with sliced fruit on the side making a smiley face, “wow thank you” she said and took her first bite “Oh my gosh wow, are you a professional chefs or what, this is delicious!” she said, it really was tasty. “do you really like it?” the little girl asked “the hol- holly" Sergio helped to correct her words “hollandaise” “right, the hollandaise sauce is homemade” the girl beamed “yes mi vida it’s delicious” 

****** 

Raquel and Sergio have been dating for about 3 weeks and he was a frequent comer to the Murillo residence. He would always come by saying he was “in the neighborhood” and brought gifts, Raquel made him stop bringing her gifts, but now he would only bring gifts for Paula, spoiling her. Paula started school again and Raquel started work but they were always happy to have Sergio over for a meal, or to just hang out. 

One day Sergio came over for dinner, and she was cooking while Paula was doing arts and crafts, Raquel forgot one of the necessary ingredients for her recipe and when Sergio offered to grab it for her or have it delivered bit she asked if he could just stay with Paula and watch her for about 15 minutes. 

When Raquel left, Sergio approached the little girl and asked what she was doing 

“My friends at school told me that you could fold a piece of paper into an animal, but I don’t know how” 

“do you mean origami?” 

“yes that, do you know how to do it?” 

“Lucky for you Paula I'm an expert at that, here let me help you” 

**** 

Raquel came back from the store and returned to her living room covered in different coloured paper animals, “When did my house turn into a zoo?” “mami, Sergio taught me how to make origami!” “i can see that" she said as she marveled the creations scattered around the room, she spotted Sergio sitting on the ground folding something and he turned to her “A flower for a pretty lady?” he said holding up a paper rose to which she gladly accepted blushing at the kind gesture and how good he was with Paula. 

“Sergio teach me how to make one too!” Paula said and leaned over to him with more paper. Raquel continued her cooking and Sergio insisted on helping her but was being held hostage by her daughter, Raquel laughed and let them be, she’s happy to see Paula bonding with Sergio and how Sergio despite being socially awkward at times was easily connecting with Paula. 

She called them from the living room and was once again surprised with over a dozen paper roses from both Sergio and Paula, it almost brought a couple tears to her eyes as her heart was wrapped in a blanket of warmth. 

At the table Paula shared all her best knock knock jokes, and even thought Raquel knew that some of the jokes weren’t very funny she found Sergio genuinely laughing, maybe not because of the joke but maybe because of Paula’s effort and she laughed at that thought. 

After dinner, Sergio stayed to clean up no matter how much Raquel told him it was fine, he helped clear the table, wash the dishes and even emptied the garbage. Sergio stayed even when it was time to put Paula to bed and she was completely fine with that, even grateful that they will have time to themselves. 

She came down the stairs, and Sergio was sitting on the couch, she approached him and saw that his eyes were already closed. She plopped herself beside him and he immediately awoke, “huh” he said eyes wide and startled till he looked at her and his face softened into a smile. He opened his arms and she snuggled in closer to him. 

“I had fun today” he said 

“you did?” 

“Of course, I did, and Paula is a lot of fun.” he said smiling as he continued “she’s so smart you know; she learns fast and she’s super funny” 

Raquel’s heart was bursting with warmth as she heard him continue talking about how amazing her daughter was. 

They moved to cuddling on the couch with Raquel’s head snuggled in the crook of his neck as a comfortable silence enveloped them, ‘this man is amazing’ she though as he played with her hair, his actions slowed down and Raquel’s heart was about to burst if she didn’t tell him the feelings she was afraid of having for so long, she whispered into his ear “Sergio, I think I love you” and she shut her eyes waiting for a response, she waited and waited till she opened her eyes again to look at him. He was fast asleep, “Sergio?” she whispered, and he stirred and hugged huh tighter “hmm” he hummed “sorry what I think I fell asleep” he whispered back, “n-nothing” 

“Sergio you should go sleep now, maybe get someone to drive you, you’re too tired to drive on your own” 

“I don’t want to leave, can I stay” he said eyes still closed 

“w-what, you want to sleep here?” 

“yes? If that’s okay with you, unless you don’t want me to” 

“I- I um sure” ‘does he want to sleep in my room?!’ 

“Raquel what’s wrong?” he asked sensing her tension 

“I um, do you want to sleep with me?” 

“What... Oh no Raquel don’t worry, I can sleep on the couch” he realized why she was nervous, 

“a-are you sure” 

“Yeah I'll just stay here and leave in the morning before Paula gets up, so she doesn’t know you had a sleepover” he said teasingly 

“okay I'll go grab you a blanket” 

“Okay” 

She went to get a blanket from the closet and when she came back Sergio was once again fast asleep; she laid the blanket on top of him and crouched down to take off his glasses, she could hear him mumble something, but she wasn’t really sure what he said. She came closer and caught the words “I love her” she stared at him, eyes getting puffy, she didn’t go up to her room but scootched herself into his arms not waking him up and slept embraced by him. 

****** 

The next morning, she woke up to Sergio’s alarm on his phone going off. He shifted and opened his eyes “Raquel? What are you doing here?” “I slept with you” he smiled at that and kissed her forehead then grabbed his phone. He rubbed his eyes and began to get up “Sergio it’s like 5:00 am, why are you getting up” “Morning duty calls” “At 5:00 am?” “Yup” he answered standing up and stretching. 

“so... what did you dream about last night?” Raquel asked, 

Sergio smirked “You” 

“Really?” 

“Well I dreamt that I was about talking about you to my brother” 

‘ah so he dreamt he told his brother he loved me’ she smiled 

“what?” he asked sensing that she was thinking about something 

“Nothing, when am I going to meet you brother?” she changed the subject 

“I wish you wouldn’t need to” he laughed “I’m kidding, maybe soon I don’t know, I’ll figure something out” 

Sergio gathered himself together again and headed towards the door and Raquel followed. 

“Bye” she said, and Sergio went to hug her and headed out the door. Raquel watched as he walked to his car, standing at the doorway. Sergio opened the door to his car then turned towards her “bye mi amor” he yelled across the street then got into the car and drove away, and Raquel froze, blushing like a red tomato.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed, Sergio is so cute I'm gonna die. I'll try to get the next chapters out asap, building towards a one of the first big conflicts hahaha. 
> 
> I love replying to your comments, so keep them coming <333


	5. the barbeque pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the Murillo's are invited to meet Sergio's friends and family

A few days later... 

“Hey, remember how you said you wanted to meet my brother?”

“yeah what’s up” 

“My brother is hosting a little get together with a few of our friends, and I was wondering if you wanted to come” 

'Hmm going to a party with my super rich boyfriend and his rich friends, would I even fit in... If anything, I'm just going to meet his brother, right?' She thought 

“That’s sounds great, when is it?” 

“This weekend” 

“But what about Paula” 

“Oh! You can bring her too, one of my friends has a kid too” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Of course! They’re going to love you” 

“Okay :)” 

****** 

The week flew by and before they knew it, it was already the weekend. Sergio offered to pick them up around 5:00pm, so Paula had just enough time to rest after school and get ready before the gathering. 

“Inspectora, what are you wearing?” 

“To be honest, I don’t know” 

“Why?” 

“Sergio, I want to make a good impression with your bother and your friends” 

“It doesn’t matter what you wear” 

“You wore suits whenever you came over until I forced you to change!” 

“Yes and that was very kind of you” 

“What are you wearing?” 

“A suit” 

“See what I mean” 

“But I always wear suits and you know that” 

“Whatever, can you just help me” 

“Well it’s a barbeque, just wear whatever you want” 

“It’s a barbeque!” 

“Yes, did I not say that before” 

“NO, no you didn’t” 

“Oh my bad” 

“Why are you wearing a suit to a barbeque?” 

“What else would I wear” 

“Jeans” 

“I’ve only worn jeans when I’m with you, no one has seen me wear that before” 

“Then did you just store them in your closet?” 

“No, I bought them when you told me to” 

“Aw that’s sweet and dumb, how have you not owned jeans before” 

“Do not question me” she laughed at his text 

“I think this would be a chance to show your change, why don’t you wear your black jeans at least” 

“hmmm” 

“please” 

“fine, and what would you be wearing” 

“Maybe my white long sleaved dress” 

“I don’t think I've seen that one before, send me a picture” 

“If you want to see the dress, you better come pick us up” 

“On my way” 

****** 

Sergio picked up Raquel and Paula and they headed to Andres’ house, Raquel was super nervous, but Sergio soothed her by telling her everyone's name before meeting them. 

“So first there’s Andres, my brother and his husband Martin the Italian. Uh, there's also Sliene my sister, but she’s probably not coming, she always travels for the company with her kid boyfriend Anibal. There are the two Serbians, Mirko and Radko and Agata, she’s super sweet-” 

Raquel interrupted him “Who’s this Agata” “She’s my friend, why” “Do you like her” she said wiggling her eyebrows “Why would you say that, trust me, you’re the only one for me” he smiled and that shut her up real quick. 

“Then there’s Monica, Daniel and Cincinatti their baby” 

“A baby?” Paula butted in “I love babies, how old is he?” 

“He’s not a small little baby, but he’s about 3 years old” 

“cute!” she smiled 

Sergio continued “And I think that’s all of them” 

“tell me more about them” Raquel asked 

“You’ll get to know them when we get there, which is now” 

They neared the gates with once again the cider symbol and Raquel couldn’t believe her eyes, this house was even bigger than Sergio’s, flat private land covered with finely trimmed trees and bushes with a stone tiled path leading towards a two story, grey stone house. There were many sculptures and statues around the front entrance and there were two large pillars by the doors, adorned with vines and plants, it was stunning. 

“Hey, Raquel, Paula I have a quick question for you two before we go in okay?” 

They both looked at him and nodded to continue 

“Can you pick a city?” 

“A city?” Raquel asked 

“Yeah” 

“Why?” 

“I’ll explain it to you later” 

“Well I’ll chose Lisboa, I went the when I was a teenager and I loved it” Raquel said 

“Beautiful, and you Paula?” 

“Hmmm, how about Madrid?” 

“Sounds great, okay let’s go” 

They hopped out of the car and knocked on the door, it took a while but they heard footsteps coming. The door opened and they were greeted by a woman with long dark black hair. 

“Sergio, you’re here! Long time no see” she said and gave him a tight hug which made Raquel a little uncomfortable beside him. They broke apart and he introduced her to them, “Raquel, Paula, this is Agata” 

“Hi nice to meet you” Raquel said holding out her hand, Agata eyes were blown open and her mouth agape in shock but she took her hand “likewise” she then looked down and if it were even possible Raquel would say that her eyes were even wider looking at Paula. 

“And who are you little one?” Agata said in a playful voice, Paula was hiding behind Raquel and Sergio spoke up “this is Paula,” and Agata shot her head up “Sergio you have a kid!?” she yelled. “You got married, had a kid and you never told me!?” 

Both Sergio and Raquel looked at her and said “What?” 

“No, no, no we’re not married” Raquel quickly corrected her 

“were just uh... together” Sergio said shyly 

“Oh, my bad” Agata said “Well, anyways come in” 

They headed towards the kitchen where they were finally met with Andres and Martin 

“Ahh there she is, Raquel Murillo” Andres said wiping his hands on his apron going towards them. 

“Hello, you must be Andres” she said and shook his hand “Yes, thank you so much for coming” “Thank you for inviting us” “My pleasure” 

Sergio stood beside her just drinking in the situation, he coughed and interrupted them “Hello Andres” “Ah hello my very lucky hermanito” he said scruffling his hair, Sergio groaned and tidied his hair as Andres tended to the little girl. 

“Hello, you must be Paula” he greeted her, “h-hi” she responded nervous, “You know, I have a little surprise for you in the backyard” “You do?” “Yes, I have a trampoline you can use just outside if you want to, do you want to go play?” “Yes, yes, yes!” the little girl shouted, and Andres brought her outside. 

“Andres is very kind” Raquel said and looked at Sergio who looked a little nervous “What’s wrong?” she asked. 

“Nothing, it’s just that we bought one just for her, I hope she likes it.” 

“You guys did what!” 

“Yeah I didn’t believe my ears when he suggested it, but then it sounded like a great idea” 

“Sergio, please tell me that you rented it and didn’t buy it, what are you guys going to do with the trampoline after we leave.” 

“I’m not sure, maybe we can move it to my house so that Paula can visit whenever she wants” 

“You want us to come over to your house?” 

“Of course, I do, unless you don’t want to” 

“I would be happy to, thank you” she said and hugged him till a voice beside said “Hey lovebirds, mind saying hello to me too” Martin smiled with a cheeky grin “I’m kidding, nice to meet you Raquel, hello Sergio” he greeted them shaking Raquel's hand and messing up Sergio’s hair just like Andres did before. 

“Do you guys want some wine” 

“Do you have the new set?” Sergio asked 

“What new set?” Raquel asked 

“We’re coming out with a wine selection” Sergio answered 

“No, we don’t have the new set yet, we’re waiting for you to go get the first batch” said Martin

“For me, why?” 

“Sergio, you're going to Italy next Tuesday, remember?” Martin asked 

“No, I do not ever remember hearing this” 

“Oh, well then that’s the plan” 

Sergio was clearly upset about people planning things without him and Raquel could see how tense he was, Raquel grabbed his shoulders and whispered “It’s okay, it’s fine, calm down” and that seemed to do the trick. 

“Just please tell me before you plan things out like these” he asked Martin 

“Well you know Andres-” 

“No, tell me before he plans anything please” 

“Yes sir” he joked and pulled out some red wine, “so do you still want a glass?” 

“Yes please” Raquel answered for them. 

They got their glasses and Martin shooed them outside so he could continue getting everything ready to grill insisting that he wanted to do it himself and not by some random chef. 

Raquel and Sergio walked outside and were greeted by more new faces “Professor!” the two Serbs shouted “Oh please, save the names, we have to let her get to know your names first” Raquel turned to him confused by what he meant but he waved her off. 

“This is Mirko, and This is Radko, Mirko, Radko, this is Raquel, my... er partner” 

‘why did he stutter’ she thought but her thoughts were interrupted when a large man took her hand into a tight grip and shook it making her whole body shake too earning a shaky “hi” from her. “Nice to meet you” he said as he put her down and Radko gave her a nod in recognition, she could tell he was the quiet type. 

“Is that your kid?” mirko asked, “yes, why?” “You have a nice little girl” he kindly smiled and Sergio pulled her away to meet other people 

There was a gazebo in the back and there was a curly haired woman setting the table she looked super familiar, “Raquel meet Monica” and the blond shot her head up “Mon?” Raquel shouted “Raquel?” the other woman shouted with equal surprise and they ran to each other and flew into a tight hug. 

“Do you guys know each other?” Sergio asked 

The two finally separated and Raquel spoke “Monica and I were best friends in high school through college in Florence” Sergio nodded and said he’ll let them catch up and was going to check on Paula 

“Awwwwww I missed you so much” Monica said

“Me too” 

“I didn’t know you moved here”

“Well neither did I” 

“Omg Raquel I didn’t know Sergio’s Raquel was you! Is that your kid!” 

“yes, Paula. Wait hold on is it you who has a son?” 

“yeah cincinatti” 

“So is that your, husband?” she said pointing at the man bringing a little boy to the trampoline 

“yeah, his names Daniel, I met him a couple years ago, and you are you married to Sergio?” 

“What, no! We’re just dating” 

“You’re just dating Sergio, but you have a kid with him? I know I haven’t seen him in a while, but I don’t remember him building a whole family and suddenly having a grown kid” 

“NO! Mon, were just dating, a-and that’s not his kid,” 

“Don’t tell me it’s-” 

“Don’t say his name” 

“O-okay, It didn’t make sense anyways the last time I saw him was two years ago” she laughed 

“Oh my gosh Mon” 

Monica and Raquel continued to catch up and Raquel ended up helping her set up the rest of the table. When they finished, they decided to go check on the boys and the kids and they were met with a most perfect picture that Raquel almost started crying. Paula was on Sergio’s shoulders and Cincinnati was on Daniel’s and they were running around playing some game, but that didn’t matter because they looked happy, and that’s all Raquel cared about. 

Sergio met her gaze and smiled so brightly, Raquel looked at Monica who was laughing and she turned to her “I’ve never seen him have this much fun” Monica said and that made Raquel smile even more. 

Sergio put Paula down out of breath and Raquel went to join them, when she came closer, Sergio ran to her duct his head and picked her up on his shoulders. She was now on his shoulders just like Paula was before and when she glanced at the other couple, they mirrored the same actions. Raquel doesn’t know how it started but both couples Started racing to the other side of the yard, everyone else was cheering and laughing, even the kids. 

Daniel and Monica were ahead of them and Raquel isn’t the losing type, so she yelled “come on Sergio, we’re the dream team!” and with that motivation Sergio pushed through and past Daniel and Monica with ease gaining them a win and applause from the other friends. 

Sergio put her down and Raquel grabbed him for a kiss earning even more applause from the crowd and a little blush on Sergio’s cheeks. 

“Wow Professor, I didn’t think it was possible” Daniel said and let out the craziest laugh Raquel has ever heard 

Sergio rolled his eyes “Raquel, this is Daniel” 

“Hi” he said with a laugh and shook her hand. 

They all gathered by the pool as they began to grill 

“So, what’s your name?” Monica asked Raquel 

“What do you mean?” 

“Like, I’m Stockholm” 

“what?” Raquel looked at her confused 

“Everyone here has a city name, it’s like a nickname” Monica answered 

Monica began listing out everyone's names 

“Daniel is Denver, Martin is Palermo, Andres is Berlin, Mirko is Helsinki, Radko is Oslo, Agata is Nairobi, Silene is Tokyo and her little boyfriend Anibal is Rio, but they’re not here” she said is one breath. 

“Don’t forget Agustin” Sergio came to chat with them 

“Agustin?” Raquel asked 

“Yeah Agustin from Hanoi is Denver’s dad, his name is Moscow” 

“wow, and what is your name Sergio?” she asked 

“I-it’s nothing” 

“Spit it out” she pushed 

“Sergio’s name is Professor” Monica answered 

“Professor? That’s why everyone kept calling you that, but why Professor and not a city name” 

“Because he’s like a professor” Denver joined in 

“So, you’re the Professor huh?” Raquel said and turned to him 

“Yes Inspectora” he replied in a deep voice which sent shivers down her spine 

“So your nickname is inspectora?” Monica asked innocently 

“Nope, her names Lisboa” Sergio answered and went to check on how everything was grilling leaving them. 

‘Ah so now I have a fun nickname and a private nickname’ Raquel thought with a smirk


	6. the barbeque pt.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone new has arrived to the barbeque and after everything, Sergio makes an important phone call to his brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter chapter than normal, I apologize.  
> I really don't know what I'm writing, I'm writing what ever comes to mind at this point LOL sorry

The table was covered in grilled meats, vegetables, some fresh salad, fruits and some drinks and everyone began feasting down on the delicious meal prepared. Some subjects upon work came up but there was one big question, 

“How long have you two been together?” Agata asked 

“A- about a month now” Sergio shyly muttered 

“And how did you guys meet” 

“W-well Paula got lost, a-and I found her, so I help Paula find her mom. When I returned her Lisboa pinned me against a tree and interrogated me” 

“Damn” everyone at the table coughed as he continued 

“She ended up breaking my glasses” 

“Ohhh that’s how they broke” Andres shouted 

“Okay anyways, she drove me home and later asked me on a date” 

“She asked you?” Agata laughed “Profe you should be asking her” 

“Wait, wait, wait, this is what happened when he got home. He called me and we picked up his car and the whole time he was talking about how beautiful Raquel was” Andres spoke up chuckling and Sergio looked down blushing furiously and he excused himself to go to the bathroom. 

Raquel soon followed to check up on him, when she got into the house, she spotted a younger woman in Sergio’s arms, they were both smiling as she was peppering kisses all over his face. 

Raquel ran back outside tears slowly seeping from her eyes but she wiped them as she sat down at the table, “are you okay” Monica whispered into her ear and before Raquel could reply she was interrupted by screaming and cheering “Silene!!!” everyone shouted, and Raquel turned around, and sure enough it was the same woman who was with Sergio, ‘I’m such an idiot’ she thought to herself. Silene was very beautiful, young with dark black short hair although she didn’t really look like Sergio, but then again, he also didn’t look like Andres. 

Silene spotted Raquel and she shouted “Hi, who are you?” and stuck her hand up “I’m Raquel” “Hi I'm Silene and or Tokyo” “Lisboa, nice to meet you” “likewise” 

Silene sat herself on the other side of Sergio, they continued eating with the new guest, Sergio could sense that Raquel was tense and tried to ask her if she was okay a couple times and eventually reached out to hold her hand under the table, running his thumb over her knuckles he felt her relax, she squeezed his hand and he squeezed back, but this didn’t go unnoticed by Silene.

“Don’t tell me you two are dating!” she screamed, Raquel felt Sergio’s hand buckle from her question “Uh, y-yes, yes we are, but were not really boyfriend and girlfriend” he said and everyone looked at him confused, even Raquel did and before he could continue, she ran off to the bathroom. Sergio looked around in a panic and then ran after her, he found her sitting on the couch inside tearing up, and he went over to sit next to her. 

“Raquel what’s wrong” 

“What do you mean what’s wrong!” she silently yelled and she didn’t answer but changed the subject “You know, I walked in on you and Silene and I got jealous when she jumped on you, but turns out that was you sister!” she laughed “I-I felt so stupid, but then just like now, I heard you stutter when someone asked about us, about our relationship. What the hell do you mean we aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend, I-I'm sorry I didn’t want to make a scene in front of your friends and family b-but what the hell do you mean!” she said exasperated.

Sergio immediately reached out for her hand and squeezed them in between his “Raquel, you didn’t let me finish, I was saying we aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend because that sounds so childish, a-and we aren’t very young anymore, we are grown, and we are together , every time someone asked about us I had to come up with a name for us, because I don’t want to call this a- a silly relationship Raquel, Raquel I haven’t said this before, but I love you. And I’ve never felt like this before.” 

Raquel looked at him, he was so sincere she threw herself into his arms and let a few tears fall onto his shirt. “I-I’m sorry” she said “No, no I get it” he responded and rubbed her back. “You know, this actually isn’t the first time you told me you loved me” Raquel said, “Oh really, then when did I?” “Last week, when you slept over, when you were sleeping you told me you loved me, more or less” she laughed. All the pieces of the puzzle from that night finally came together, why she asked him what he dreamt about and why she slept with him on the couch. Sergio looked at her and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the forehead before they headed back outside “Never doubt me” he said as they walked back to the table. 

****** 

After the barbeque, everyone exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet again soon. Paula made good friends with all the adults and with little Cincinatti and was adored by everyone. Raquel had fun meeting new friends and seeing her old friend Monica, it was especially fun because of Sergio, he laughed, smiled, had fun and was always by her side. 

Sergio purposefully didn’t drink so he could drive the Murillo’s home. It was about night when they left, and Paula was fast asleep in the backseat while the quietly drove home. Raquel was quietly half resting beside him, his hand in hers on her lap. 

Sergio whispered a little “Raquel” and she shifted, 

“mmm” she hummed 

“Raquel, do you want to go away?” he asked, and she looked at him 

“Let’s leave” he said

“where?” 

“My business trip, do you want to come?” Sergio wasn’t talking about his business trip, he was talking about him moving to Paris, he still hadn’t left because he wanted to stay with her but the day he was supposed to leave kept coming closer and closer. 

“To Italy?” 

“Y-Yeah” 

“Sergio, I’m sorry, I have work a-and Paula has school, we can’t just drop everything and go. I’m sorry but it’s too soon.” 

‘Damn that hurt’ Sergio thought, ‘of course they can’t leave everything behind, not even for a few days, it’s too soon. But what do I do? I’m moving to Paris, but I can’t leave without her. Dammit! We are too old for long distance relationships, damn! He clenched the stirring wheel. 

Sergio must move to Paris to tend to the new opening businesses there, he begged and pleaded with his brother to ask not to go, but it wasn’t a choice. He had to go, he needed to go. When he looks at Raquel, he regrets not telling her in the first place, he regrets dragging her into this mess, a mess where he would try and bring her out of her well-built life.

Raquel was already asleep when they arrived at her house, “Raquel?” he called “Raquel we’re here, wake up” she stirred and woke up. “Hmm, thank you” she stretched and unbuckled her seatbelt, he opened the door and Sergio went to the back to retrieve Paula. He picked her up and carried her to the door following Raquel, he went inside and delivered Paula all the way to her room, he placed her on the bed, and both him and Raquel tucked her in, for a second, Sergio watched Paula, oh how he was so grateful for her bringing them together. Raquel walked him to the door in complete silence, when Sergio stood at the door Raquel asked 

“Sergio, are you okay?” 

“y-yeah, why” 

“I seemed like you have something on your mind” 

“No, no it’s fine” 

“Okay then, goodnight Sergio” she said and moved in to kiss him, before she reached him, he moved away. Raquel look at him confused and Sergio moved into a hug “Bye Raquel, I’ll see you..."

******

Sergio got into his car and called his brother

"Andres"

"Hermanito!"

"Andres please, I can't move to Paris, please, please"

"Woah woah, what's the problem?"

"I can't leave Raquel"

"I told you, then bring her"

"I can't make her choose between where she's lived for so long and me, some guy she's known for a month, she's built a life here, she's happy, they're happy."

"Have you asked her about it?"

"not really, no"

"dammit Sergio, you're so stubborn"

"Andres! I know my place, and I don't want to ask her to make a choice!"

"I'll see what I can do"

"Thank you Andres, thank you"


	7. it's me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be the shortest chapter I've ever written, I promise to make them longer.  
> I ended it short to create some suspense lol, hope you enjoy it <3

They day of Sergio’s business trip he decided to visit the Murillo’s home one more time. His flight was in the afternoon and since it was a Saturday, he went over in the morning. Raquel was in the middle of getting all the ingredients to make pancakes for all of them when she heard the doorbell ring, she stopped what she was doing and ran to the door, her and Sergio didn’t leave on the best of terms the other night, Sergio was acting very strange. But today is a new day, and she missed him terribly, and she swung the door open. 

“Sergio” she yelled and threw herself at him, she could feel that his tension from the other day was gone. 

“Hi Raquel” he said and patted her back, 

They headed inside to the kitchen he spotted the jumble of ingredients on the table and Raquel explained “I was going to make breakfast before you came” Sergio immediately started rolling up his sleeves and washing his hands, and Raquel asked “what are you doing?” “helping you cook” he smiled “you don’t even know what we're cooking” she laughed, and he scanned the contents on the table “I’m guessing pancakes” “bingo!” she snapped her fingers “one; because of the ingredients and two; because it’s Paula’s favourite” he stated, and Raquel just laughed at how he the remembered small details. 

They finished making the batter in a flash and Sergio offered to do the dishes as she cooked the pancakes, Raquel was so focused on her task that she didn’t even hear the water turn off until she felt a pair of large arms engulf her from behind, he stuck his head in her hair and whispered, 

“I’m going to miss you” 

“Oh calm down, it’s only for five days” 

“minimum five days” he corrected and she turned around 

“minimum five days?!” she repeated shocked 

“yeah” he sighed 

“That's too long” she hugged him back 

“Raquel?” 

“yeah?” 

“your pancakes are going to burn” 

“Oh shoot!” she turned back to her pancakes and flipped them over showing a burnt black side “damn!” 

After lots of cooking, teasing and laughter, little Paula came downstairs. “Sergio?” the little one called sleepily “Hi Paula!” he excitedly greeted Paula, she ran up to him and to Raquel’s surprise, they did some sort of secret handshake. 

“Wow, when did you guys make that!” 

“A long time ago mama, when we made the zoo of origami!” Paula answered and went to greet her as well. “What are you guys cooking?” 

“Pancakes” Raquel and Sergio said at the same time 

****** 

While eating breakfast Paula was looking nervous and anxious, she pulled on Sergio’s sleeve. Both the adults stopped talked and turned their attentions to Paula, “what’s wrong carino?” Raquel asked knowing when her baby was distressed “it’s about Sergio” she said and both Raquel’s and Sergio’s eyes we’re blown wide. Sergio started panicking, thoughts coursing through his mind trying to figure out what he did wrong, but his thoughts were interrupted by Paula 

“Sergio, I’m sorry” she said 

“W-what? W-why?” he asked nervous 

“I lost Mr. Bunny” she said sadly and looked down “I remember I had him this week, but I don’t know where he went” 

“Aww, Paula it’s okay, I’m sure he’ll turn up somewhere” he said soothing her “Did you bring him to the barbeque, maybe you left him there” 

“I- I think I brought him, yes, yes I did” 

“Okay, then I can ask my brother if he has it, and if he does, then Mr. Bunny will be back in your arms in about a week” he said and looked at Raquel who was smiling at him 

“A week?!” Paula shouted 

“Yes, I’m going on a small trip, but I'll try to return as soon as I can” he said and winked in Raquel's direction 

******* 

Sergio was just about out the door when Raquel pulled him in for kiss, it was an ‘i’m going to miss you so much’ type of kiss and they lingered in a hug for a while afterwards “I’m going to miss you” he said “me too, me too” she replied, “I love you” he said and she looked up at him with a lump stuck in her throat, sure she said it before, but she said it to the sleeping Sergio, not the one fully awake staring into her eyes “m- me too” she muttered as she released him and then watched as he walked away. 

Though they promised to call each other as much as they can, Sergio’s trip was full of meetings, signing papers and lots and lots of business talk, but no matter how tired he was, he always remembered to make time for the Murillo’s. 

In Madrid, Raquel was going through a busy patch at work and it was hard for her to call or text Sergio, but at the end of the day she always loved when he called. 

He would usually call around night and though he would want to talk to Paula, it was usually past her bedtime, but that also gave the two of them privacy to talk. 

It was the last day of the trip, he would be back tomorrow, but Raquel didn’t know that yet, he wanted to surprise her, so her called at the same time he usually called. 

“Hello?” 

“Raquel, hi, how are you?” 

“I’m fine really, but work busy and I'm so tired all the time” she said with a heavy voice that made Sergio feel like he was occupying her, she didn’t mean to say it like that, but it was true, she was very tired. She didn’t ask him in response, but Sergio answered himself. 

“Yeah... me too” he said softly 

“how’s your trip” she asked 

“It’s pretty good, I wish you were here though” he said with a laugh 

“Sergio, I’m busy, and I can see that your busy too, I don’t think that trip would have done us any good” she said and immediately regretted how she worded it, she wanted to correct herself, take it back, but he already responded. 

“I’m sorry” he said quietly 

“Sergio-” she tried to correct herself 

“No, no it’s okay, you go get some sleep, goodnight Raquel” he said kindly, but Raquel could hear a touch of hurt in his voice. 

“Sergio...” 

“It’s okay, get some rest, goodnight 

“g- goodnight” she responded and Sergio was the first to hang up, leaving her with the a dreaded feeling 

Sergio hung up and flopped onto his hotel bed with a big “uff” just then his phone started ringing again, he check his phone and of course it was his beloved brother. 

“Hermanito!” his brother yelled 

“Andres” 

“I have some great news for you!” 

“what is it?” 

“I was able to pull some strings and some of my negotiating techniques and was able to convince our branches in Paris that we would figure out another way to run the company!” he said excitedly 

“That’s great” Sergio replied 

Andres expected to hear more excitement from him “Sergio, my slow brother, this means I convinced them that you DON’T NEED TO MOVE” he yelled the last words and finally heard his younger brother burst into joy. 

“Are you kidding me?!” Sergio yelled not believing what he said 

“No, you don’t have to move” 

“YESS!!” he yelled though the phone multiple times “Thank you so much!” 

“Anything for you hermano” he said and hung up 

As soon as Andres hung up Sergio switched to Raquels contact, but he paused before he pressed call. ‘She’s probably tired, she doesn’t know anything about this anyways, I can just fill her in on everything tomorrow’ he thought and put his phone down as he laid down on his bed and went to sleep. 

The next morning, Sergio was on a plane back to Madrid, back to Raquel. 

****** 

Today was Raquel’s day off and she was spending her time with Paula, it was about afternoon, when Paula thought it would be a fun idea if they could make homemade pizza for dinner, and so Raquel headed out to the grocery store saying that Paula was a big girl, that she would be home in a few minutes, and that under no circumstances will she open the door. 

After Sergio got off the plane and got into his car, when he was putting his bags in the back, he spotted a little grey figure in the corner crack of the seat, he fished for it and low and behold it was Mr. Bunny, and he smiled. 

After a while of driving, he called Raquel, 

“Hey Raquel, what are you doing right now?” 

“Hey, I’m just at the grocery store getting some ingredients for pizza.” 

“sounds delicious, is Paula there?” 

“no she isn’t, she at home, I told her I would only be a few minutes, why do you ask?” 

“Because I wanted to tell her that someone found Mr. Bunny” 

“Really! She’s been missing him so much” 

“great, tell her she’ll get him soon” 

“how soon?” Raquel asked more for herself instead of for Paula 

“Soon” was all he replied with and hung up 

****** 

Not even five minutes after Raquel left to the grocery store, Paula heard the doorbell ring, she ran to the door and yelled “Who’s there!” and a voice came from the other side “Paula, it’s me!” and Paula swung the door open and was she ingulfed into a tight hug


	8. Sergio!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sergio arrives at the house and see's an unfamiliar face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for this chapter, or am I haha
> 
> Anyways, I hope you like it mwahaha

Sergio arrived at the house, with Mr. Bunny in hand he rung the doorbell. To Sergio’s surprise, it wasn’t Raquel who opened the door, neither was it Paula, but a man about his age, a tad bit shorter, and a little more macho than him who answered. 

Sergio took a step back “H-hello” he stuttered 

“HI, who are you?” the man asked, and as he did so little Paula shook her head out 

“Hi Sergio” she said 

“Hi Paula, look who I found” Sergio said showing her the plush 

“Mr. Bunny!” she squealed, she grabbed him from Sergio and ran off into the house, 

“So, Sergio?” the man asked 

“Yes, that’s me, and you are?” 

“Alberto,” he took Sergio’s hand and shook it “Alberto Vicuna” 

“Nice to meet you, I-is Raquel there?” 

“Actually no, not at the moment, she went out to get some groceries for dinner, I think were we making pizza, isn’t that right Paula!” he yelled the last part and Paula yelled back with a “yes!” 

“Is there a message you would like me to pass off to her?” Alberto asked 

“Uh you could say that I was here, o-or I could just stay here and wait for her” 

“No, I'll just pass it on to her, you can go” 

“what no it’s okay, I can stay” 

“I don’t think so” 

“what, why not?” 

“because I said so” 

“and who are you?” Sergio asked defensively 

“I’m Raquel’s husband” 

Sergio froze, his heart sank into his stomach, a lump got stuck in his throat and he felt lightheaded “w-what?” 

“her husband and Paula’s father, and you?” 

“nobody, I- I mean Raquel, Raquel’s friend” he couldn’t even form a proper sentence, Sergio felt like he was going to throw up or pass out or throw up and then pass out. 

“well it was nice meeting you, perhaps you could come over some other time for lunch or something.” Alberto said but Sergio couldn’t hear anything that was coming out of his mouth all he heard was the pounding blood in his ears, all he said was “yeah uh s-sure, uh bye” and ran to his car. 

When he got into his car, the was no emotion coming from him, no reaction, no anger, no tears he just felt numb as he drove as fast as he could, he drove directly to his house and started packing more suitcases with his things then called his brother. 

“Andres” he said in a flat voice “Andres I take it back, I’m going to Paris” 

“what are you talking about?” he asked 

“She’s married Andres, Raquel s-she" he let his emotions slip up for a second, but then built his walls back up again. 

“I have to get out of here, I have to leave” Sergio said sternly

“Yes, yes okay, are you okay?” 

“sure” 

“be safe hermanito” 

“sure” and he hung up 

****** 

Raquel returned groceries in hand and found Paula sitting on the couch watching cartoons on her Ipad, and she was also holding something, she came closer and saw Mr. Bunny, she dropped the groceries in the kitchen as fast as she could and checked the house for Sergio. 

“Mama what are you looking for?” Paula asked 

“Sergio, you have Mr. Bunny, is he here?” 

“not anymore” 

“what?” Raquel asked confused 

“he was here earlier but he left” Raquel looked at the little girl, her face screaming ‘what do you mean?’ 

“And mommy?” Paula asked 

“yeah?” 

“Daddy was here” 

Raquel froze, he was here, in my house, with my baby, what was he doing here? 

“Paula, what happened when I left?” 

“well daddy came over and I let him in” 

“I told you not to let anyone in” 

“but it was daddy” 

“okay, okay, then what happened?” 

“he came in and asked me how I was and where you were, we were talking for a bit till Sergio came, then daddy opened the door for him” 

“he what?” 

“Sergio came to give me Mr. Bunny, but he was also looking for you” 

Raquel was choking on air, waiting for what was coming next 

“And then daddy said something about him coming over sometime, I’m not sure” 

Raquel’s head was spinning, she pat Paula on the shoulder and ran upstairs to her room. She called Sergio but he didn’t answer, and she was left with a voice saying “this caller is not available at the moment” 

She called, and called, and called, and called, 

“This caller is not available at the moment” 

Dammit Sergio, answer the phone! What happened when I left? Why isn’t he answering? A thousand thoughts were racing through her head. 

****** 

Sergio was already on his way to the airport, he took a glance at his phone and saw that he had 5 missed calls from Raquel, he pulled over into a parking lot and called her back, not even after two rings, she picked up. 

“Sergio-” she said but was halfway interrupted 

“Raquel” 

“Sergio, what happened-” 

“Raquel 

“what?” 

“Raquel, I’m leaving” 

“w-what?” 

“I’m leaving, tell Paula I said goodbye” and he hung up leaving Raquel lost, she still had no idea what happened and when she called back, he wouldn’t answer. His words “I’m leaving” felt like a gunshot repeating in her head. ‘he’s leaving? Why? What happened?” 

Raquel resorted to calling Andres, it took a couple tries but eventually he answered 

“What?” Andres said coldly 

“Berlin, what happened to Sergio” she said a little breathlessly 

“Why don’t you tell me!” 

“Berlin please, I have no idea what’s happening, where is he going? Is he okay?” she begged 

“I’m sure he already told you” 

“he didn’t” 

“he’s moving to Paris” 

“he what!” 

“he’s leaving, that’s it. And you have no right to ask if he’s okay, I shouldn’t even had told you where he’s going” 

“Berlin please tell me what’s wrong” she kept asking 

“NO Raquel, you really hurt him! He's never loved anyone before, and even if this sounds too fast for you, he actually loved you! But you lead him on, tricked him, fooled him, tricked his family and friends too!” 

“Berlin please, tell me what happened” she started crying 

“Cut the bullshit Raquel, you hurt him, and you hurt me” he said and hung up the phone 

Raquel’s world was absolutely spinning, she had so many unanswered questions racing through her mind, she felt like her heart was crumbling. The fact that she still didn’t know what even happened, terrified her, ‘What was so bad, that it would make Sergio leave without a word?’ and it scared her, to know that it had to do with ex-husband. 

Just even his name made her shake, but he was at her house with her daughter and supposedly did something that ruined her relationship with Sergio. She could hear his disturbing voice running through her ears, but she needed answers. 

With the shakiest of hands, she pressed call on Alberto’s contact, after a couple of rings, he picked up. She gathered up all her courage and spoke. 

“What the hell did you do!” she said with a shaky angry voice 

“Hi Raquel, I met your little playboy today, might I say he does look nerdy” he laughed “nice to see that you move on to other guys like that, I saw his car, it looked expensive, I know you’re after the money” 

“I’m not!” she defended herself “and it doesn’t matter when I move on” 

He scoffed 

“tell me, what did you say or do?!” Raquel asked angry 

“Oh nothing, just that you were getting us lunch, pizza was it?” 

“US!” she yelled 

“yeah us, our little family” he laughed 

“Alberto!” she yelled as she gripped the sheets of her bed 

“You should have seen the look on his face when I said you were married, it was priceless!” he wheezed 

“You said what!” 

“he looked so tense, it looked like he was going to shit himself and throw up on the spot! It was so hard not to laugh” 

“Alberto this isn’t funny!” she roared 

“Oh but it is! You clearly don’t know what you're doing with him. OH and when I told him he should come over for lunch sometime, he replied with “s-sure”” Alberto stupidly mimicked Sergio’s voice “I think I broke him” he laughed again 

“Alberto why are you doing this! You are a monster you know that!” 

“Oh Raquel I didn’t do anything, don’t put the blame on me” he said with a pouty innocent voice. “have fun” he ended and hung up. 

Raquel was a mess, she was sobbing and crying, everything catching up to her. How Alberto continued to torment and ruin her she will never understand, it was like he held a knife over her life and he liked to chop it up. But most of all she was so sorry for Sergio, he probably felt so hurt right now, Raquel kept calling him and texting him, but he never answered. 

****** 

Sergio got onto the plane not saying a word, he went straight to his seat and looked out the window. As the plane started moving and the view became nothing but clouds, Sergio’s mask slipped as a tear ran down his cheek, he quickly wiped it, but another one fell, and another. 

As the tears just kept coming, Sergio felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest, he’s never felt like this before, but he knew it was because of Raquel. He felt broken, how could Raquel do this to him, why couldn’t she just tell him that s-she was married! He felt so stupid, has Raquel just been playing with him? She couldn’t have been faking everything could she? 

He told himself that he would never be mad at her, but he was mad, and he was so hurt that though she didn’t say anything. Yet, he still loved her. 

'we've never talked about our pasts, but this definitely should have come up. But no, she kept lying and fooled me, my family and my friends.’ he thought 

He continued to stare out the window and gave up on wiping his face. 

****** 

She was so tired of crying that she dozed off for a while, when she woke up again, about an hour and a half had past. Still no calls from Sergio, she ran downstairs eyes still puffy and found Paula eating a bowl of cereal 

“Paula carino, what are you doing?” she asked 

“I got a little hungry, so I got some cereal” 

“why didn’t you wake me up, I could have made something for you” 

“I know mommy, but you sounded sad, and tired so I left you” 

Raquels heart clenched, she had the most amazing daughter anyone could ever ask for 

“thank you carino, but please wake me up next time if you're hungry” she said patting Paula’s hair “Okay?” 

“Okay” she responded 

Raquel whipped up a quick tortilla and they both moved to the couch, Raquel turned on the tv and it was still on the news channel from when she was watching earlier. Raquels heart stopped as she read the screen. 

“BREAKING NEWS!” 

“Plane from Madrid to Paris France crashed this afternoon on its way there, police are checking for survivors but so far there are none...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made it to the end, I don't know what to say. I don't think many of you were expecting this, so please comment all your thoughts about it.
> 
> And if you hate me for this well... Uh you're welcome?


	9. dammit!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where is Sergio?  
> Andres and Raquel connect, and look for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!   
> I don't have a set date for posting because I don't want to feel like I have a time limit, my bad if you wanted to know.   
> If anything, you can always connect with me on Instagram @lcdp_moneyheist_ and ask questions. <3
> 
> I'm sorry if the story gets a little messy, it's an adventure, and I write whatever story my head makes up.

“BREAKING NEWS!” 

“Plane from Madrid to Paris France crashed this afternoon on its way there, police are checking for survivors but so far there are none...” 

She couldn't hear anything the tv said after that, she excused herself from Paula and walked out, “Sergio, Sergio, Sergio” she repeated to herself as she ran back to her room. She grabbed her phone and there were already 2 missed calls from Andres, so she called him back. 

“Raquel” he called out breathless “Raquel have you heard from Sergio?” he said with panic in his voice 

“Berlin don’t tell me th-” 

“Raquel have you heard from Sergio!” he asked again almost yelling

“N-no, no I haven’t” 

“JODER!” Andres yelled from the other line 

“Berlin please tell me he’s okay” 

“he isn’t answering his phone!” he yelled 

“did he already get on a plane?” she asked 

“yeah, about an hour and a half ago” 

“N-no” she said with a shaky voice and she hung up the phone. 

“Sergio are you okay?” she texted, but the message didn’t even deliver. 

She called him, but it went straight to voice mail. Panic ingulfed her, where is Sergio! 

Blood pounding in her ears, the world was spinning again, she sat down on the edge of her bed and but her face in her palms. “Sergio please be okay, please, please” she kept repeating to herself till she heard little knocks on the door. 

“Mommy? Are you okay? Paula asked 

“Y-yeah I'm okay” 

“Is something wrong with Sergio? Where is he?” 

“No, no nothing’s wrong with him, he just went o-on a trip” 

“But he just came back from a trip, is he coming back soon?” 

Raquel didn’t know how to respond, so she just pulled Paula in for a hug resting her head on top of hers and repeated “I hope so, I hope so” 

****** 

Raquel was laying in her bed awake; it was about 5:00 am in the morning and she couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned till she got restless and pulled out her phone, there was a new update on article about the plane crash, and she read, 

“five people found alive at the crash sight” she sat up and clicked to read more, but her face drooped again when she continued to read “family of three and two adult sisters found” but no Sergio, does this mean- no Raquel, he’s alive, he has to be alive. 

She stepped out of the room and decided to call Andres if he’s heard anything 

“hello, Andres?” she asked, dropping the nicknames 

“Raquel, have you heard anything?” 

“I was just about to ask you” 

“damn” he said with a sigh 

“Andres?” 

“yeah” 

“I know this doesn’t matter to you right now, but I’m not married” 

“You’re not?” 

“No actually the man who was at my house was my ex-husband, I- I don’t even know why he was here, I have a restraining order against him.” Andres didn’t reply so she continued “h-he’s Paula’s father and I left him a while ago because h-he abused me” 

“Raquel it’s okay, I understand, you don’t have to tell me this” 

“I do, I do because I didn’t talk about my past to S-Sergio, but he was and still is manipulative, a-and I only managed to leave him because I was afraid of him hurting Paula” 

“did you file a report against him?” 

“yes, I did, but only when he started seeing my sister, because I want to protect her you know?. But I was late with no evidence, so no one believed me, and I just looked like a jealous bitch” 

“He’s disgusting, Raquel I'm so sorry” 

“yeah...” 

“And I'm sorry for yelling at you, I was just so angry because Sergio was so happy and then he wasn’t” 

Andres heard Raquel sob a couple time before he continued, 

“Raquel, did he tell you about Paris?” 

“N-no, what about it?” 

“You know what, let me start from the very beginning, actually, this was how you met him” when Raquel was silent, Andres continued. 

“He was at that park because he ran away when I told him he needed to move to Paris, for the company.” 

“mhm” she hummed to confirm she was listening 

“He never wanted to leave, and then he met you, and he would never ever leave. Even when I told him he could bring you.” 

“he never said anything about this” 

“because he’s stubborn. I think he called me about this the day of my barbeque, did he say anything, or was he acting strange that day?” 

“Actually, when we were driving home, he said, “let’s leave,” it was out of nowhere, and I thought he was talking about his business trip, but what if he wasn’t? He was acting weird after I said no, what if this was his way of telling me?” 

“What and idiot, that night he called me and said he wouldn’t make you choose between him, and your home, so he kept begging to stay.” 

“Andres...” she cried 

“Just yesterday I gave him the news that I pulled some strings and that he could stay and that he didn't have to go anymore...” 

“And then he came here to surprise me” she filled in the blanks 

“And then we both know what happened, he decided to leave anyways” he said with a sigh

“Andres... Do you think he’s still alive?” 

“I can only hope so, I keep you filled in, okay?” 

“Okay, thank you” 

After the heavy topic call with Andres, when she laid down again it felt like the smallest bit of weight was taken off her, but then it was replaced but a heavy burden of thinking about how Sergio’s last thought of her could have been that she lied to him. 

She wouldn’t be able to sleep thinking that she never got to say goodbye to him, that the last words she heard from him was “tell Paula I said goodbye” 

She knows that Andres now knows the truth about Alberto and forgives her, but she will never forget that Sergio doesn’t know the truth and died believing a lie, alone and hurt, or still hurting if he was alive. 

Her mind flashed back to memories with Sergio, 

to when they first met, when she pinned him against the tree, 

When he watched her with adoring eye’s, 

His voice whispering “inspectora” in her ears, 

His little gifts, 

Their amazing first date, 

Him bonding with Paula, 

His touches, 

Everything about him and all their amazing memories together. 

“Oh Sergio, I’m so sorry...” She said to herself as she went back to bed and drifted back to sleep. 

****** 

Later in the morning, she grabbed her phone and searched for an update on the remaining survivors of the crash. 

“Among the many people of the plane crash, still only five survivors, search still ongoing” 

No, no this can’t be true, how have they not found him yet, he’s alive, he can’t be dead, he can’t! Still no update from Andres, Raquel tried to distract herself with her own duties of being a mother, watching Paula, making meals and all in all staying with her daughter managed to remove her from her thoughts, till she got a call from Andres, with hope bursting through her body she answered. 

“Andres, please give me good news” 

“Raquel... I got a call from the office in Paris and they said they haven’t heard anything from him” 

“What does that mean?” 

“It means he never made it there” 

“No...” 

“We’ve also tracked a ticket in first class under Sergio’s name...” 

“And!?” 

“that was his flight Raquel, I'm so sorry” 

“No, no, no Andres, he’s not dead till they find his body!” 

“Should I directly file a missing report for him, so that they know who to look for?” 

“Yes! Anything please, we have to find him!” 

“You know what Raquel? You are really amazing, I never thought that knowing someone for just about two months would stick around like you are” 

“Andres, I don’t know who what kind of people you meet, but of course I care, I loved him” 

“Thank you hermana” 

Raquel’s heart thumped in pain “f-for what” 

“for loving him, I have never seen him this happy before, and too be honest I didn’t think he could love, so thank you” 

“t-thank you” Raquel said 

“And I am so so sorry if don’t can’t find him” 

“we will Andres, we will” 

“I hope so” 

****** 

A little while after, Raquel and Paula were sitting on the ground making arts and crafts, Raquel was helping her draw a turtle till Paula pointed at the screen “Mama look! It's Sergio!” 

Raquel shot her head up the screen 

“SERGIO MARQUINA SPAINS BIGGEST INTERNATIONAL SUPPLIER AND BIGGEST CIDER COMPANY OWNER!” 

Flight booked for Madrid to Paris for the flight UX2228 that crashed, body still unfound, 

If spotted anywhere, please report too 

000-000-0000 

Oh lord now she has to explain to Paula what's happening 

“mama is Sergio missing, is he hurt?” she asked confused 

“Paula, um the plane that crashed was Sergio’s, they still haven’t found his body, so we can’t say if he’s alive or not, w-we don’t even know if he was on that plane. He isn’t answering our calls, so we can only hope for the best” 

Paula hugged Mr. Bunny “I hope he’s okay” 

“Me too, me too...   
****** 

Almost all Raquel's hope has been going down the toilet these past few days, she has been working tirelessly at work and then at home on the phone with Andres searching for information on Sergio’s whereabouts. They were able to find small clip of video footage of Sergio in Madrid’s airport, and it broke her heart even more seeing him walking to his gate shoulders slumped clearly upset. 

Almost four days without a word from Sergio was not promising. Messages don’t even deliver, it’s very likely that his phone was broken in the crash. 

It hurt her to let Paula see her struggling, and it hurt even more to see that Paula was visibly upset as well about Sergio’s disappearance. 

Her last sliver of hope faded when she read the news on the screen once again 

POLICE REPORTED FINDING A MANGLED BODY RESEMBLING SERGIO MARQUINA THE BIGGEST CIDER COMPANY AND SUPPLIER IN SPAIN

IN THE DEBIRS OF THE REMAINDERS OF THE PLANE NEAR THE CRASH SITE!

Body still unconfirmed 

She didn’t hide her pain anymore and broke down in front of Paula, Paula broke too seeing her mother cry and seeing that the kind man Sergio, was most likely dead. Paula being the smartest kid of all grabbed her phone and dialed Andres, she knew that him and her mom were trying to find Sergio, so he was the person she dialed. She put the phone to her mother's ear. 

“Raquel, Raquel calm down” Andres said from the other line “Go pack your bags, were going to verify if it’s really him, a- and I want you there” he said and Raquel could hear him hiding his own cries. “I contacted Silene but she and Rio and they’re in Tokyo right now, and they won’t make it here till tomorrow, so please hurry, I’ll pick you up okay?” 

“P-Paula” she muttered to him “I don’t want to leave her alone, but I also don’t want her to come” she said looking at Paula, Paula was smart, and she understood why she couldn’t come, and she whispered “call auntie Alicia” 

“Never mind Andres, I’ll get someone to take care of her” 

“Are you sure, I can ask Martin” 

“I’m sure” 

“Okay get ready, I’ll be there in 30 minutes” 

Raquel called Alicia and asked her to immediately come, Alicia’s heart broke for her best friend hearing her cry, Alicia has seen the news and Raquel has been keeping her informed on what was happening, so when she got the call, she rushed over. 

Raquel threw all her necessities into her bag; she didn’t know how long she will be gone for so she just threw anything and everything into her bag. By the time she finished Alicia was already there, she must have sped to get here and would usually get in trouble by Raquel, but she didn’t care at the moment. Raquel cried into Alicia’s arms and Alicia’s heart broke again for her. Just a few moments later Andres showed up, he came in a grabbed her bags and threw them into his car as Raquel said goodbye to her daughter. 

“Bye mommy!” she said muffled in Raquel's chest 

“By sweety I'll be back soon” she hugged her daughter farewell 

As she walked out Alicia grabbed her by her arm 

“Raquel be careful you hear me, Paula needs you” 

“I will, thank you Alicia” 

“Good luck” Alicia yelled, but Raquel didn’t respond 

******* 

Sergio was lying down, his whole body hurt, he couldn’t move or speak, and it hurt to breath. He felt so weak, and a bright light was flashing in his eyes, as he fought to keep them open, but he couldn’t, and he gave up and let them close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for making it to the end, please tell me what you think about it <3


	10. hijo de puta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raquel and Andres go confirm the body, and Pov from Sergio

Raquel 

Raquel got into the car and was terrified by Andres’s speedy and reckless driving, again she would have scolded him, but at this point she couldn’t care less. They arrived at the airport, and they both impatiently went through all the security as if they were rushing, (there was no rush) and were finally sitting in the chairs in front of their gate, Raquel looked around, ‘this was the same gate as Sergio’s’ she said to herself. When she looked around, it was like she could see a shadow of Sergio haunting her. She could imagine Sergio standing by a coffee shop getting a drink, she could see him standing in front of his gate impatiently waiting tapping his fingers on his legs. She shook herself and took a deep breath to clear her head, and took a glance at Andres. 

Andres was franticly looking around, as if he was looking for something, and his knee was shaking uncontrollably. Raquel watched him and slowly moved her hand to his knee to still it and Andres finally looked back at her at her, 

“Andres it’s okay, calm down” she said 

“How is it okay Raquel! HOW!” he yelled she flinched a little, and some people around them turned in their direction as Raquel tried to calm him down. 

Andres noticing that he just yelled at her apologized “Raque sorry I- I didn’t mean to, but they said it looked like him! What if it’s him, I- I can’t, what if!?” he said in almost a breathless whisper 

“Andres, please calm down” she said taking a hold of his shoulders and directing him to look at her 

“Raquel, what if it’s him” he asked and looked into her eyes, Raquel could see his eyes watering, and it broke her heart even more to see a struggling brother and she started tearing up too. 

“Shut up, don’t say that” she warned him and took him in for a hug, at first, he froze, but eventually gave into the hug shedding a couple tears. 

They composed themselves again once they started calling people into their gates, 

Once they were finally on the plane and settled down, Andres still looked like he was going to burst, shaking again like a mad man. 

“Talk to me” Raquel said without looking at him 

“w-what?” he said confused and she turned to him 

“talk to me, tell me anything, because you look like you’re going to explode” 

“uh, umm hmm” he hummed out loud thinking of something to say 

“why don’t you tell me about why your siblings have different last names?” she gave him an idea 

He took that thought in for a few seconds and then started “Ah yes, well um first of all, Silene isn’t really our sister, she’s our adoptive sister” 

Raquel looked at him confused and intrigued as he continued 

“So, me and Sergio are half-brothers, we have the same mother, but my birth dad left when I was born, and then Sergio’s dad came around and eventually Sergio” 

“I’m sorry about your dad” she said sadly, but was happy that she was able to distract her friend 

“it’s fine, anyways, after our mother died we were still super young, and it was just me, Sergio and his dad, and he started working so hard to provide for us. A little while later, Sergio made friends with this little girl named Silene, she was an orphan so small and fragile, and just when his dad scrapped up enough money, we took her in.” 

“Aww that so sweet” she admired now knowing where Sergio got his kindness from. “by the way, why do you keep calling him Sergio’s dad?” 

“Well, because first because he wasn’t my dad, he always treated me well and he was amazing, but I know he loved Sergio much more” he said with a laugh “I always was the troublemaker” 

Raquel chuckled a little bit, as Andres continued 

“Once he had us all together, he started planning out his dreams making cider, he wanted to make 24 hundred barrels, but he died before he could” 

“I’m so sorry” 

“It’s okay, we were able to live out his dream, even go beyond what he wanted, and look where we are now” he said 

That last part resonated in her head “look where we are now” she would have never thought that she would be on a plane to confirm if her boyfriend was dead or not. And Andres would have never imagined the same, he wouldn’t have ever thought that the co-owner, his own brother would get in an accident fleeing the city because of a woman, and that he would be going to find him with that said woman by his side. 

Andres interrupted her thoughts with a small whisper 

“Raquel, thank you for coming” 

“Andres stop, of course I'm here, yes I'm here for you, but I’m here for me too” 

“Still thank you” 

She nodded and they both closed their eyes to get some rest 

It was about night when the plane landed, and about a half an hour later and a couple minutes in the car, they arrived at the crash site. 

It was a mess, you could see many pieces of debris from the plane scattered around the grounds, police everywhere, some people crying and what irked her the most, was the spots of blood scattered around and the multiple body bags people were packing up. 

A police officer approached them and asked them what they were doing, “w-we are here to confirm a body” Andres spoke up, “Sergio Marquina” and the officer nodded and let them into the site and lead them to a body. 

She directed them towards a that was crushed from the torso down by a large piece of metal broken from the plane, there was evidence that workers were trying to get the heavy piece of debris off without success. 

“This is the last unconfirmed body, everyone else has been identified,” the officer announced stopping 

Raquel closed her eyes took a deep breath in walking towards the body, and knelt beside it, she started bawling her eyes out with Andres who slowly following behind her. She looked at the distorted body and moved her hand to caress its blood covered face and body, he was almost unrecognizable. “it’s Sergio,” she whispered in confirmation, as she felt his prickly beard against her palm, her hands moved to caress his hair as she examined her dead boyfriends' body. 

******

Sergio 

4 days ago 

Sergio drove to the airport and parked his car; he walked inside with a droop and went through all the security and safety measures. He walked and stood in front of his gate, in about five minutes he would leave Madrid and try to never look back. 

He would leave his life here to go and work, all alone with rare visits and trips to and from his friends and family. Could he live like this, noting back to his old character, yes, him before he met the woman who changed him and showed him how to enjoy life and who was his first love. He looked to his left and saw a small happy family, two parents and their little girl, they looked so happy and his heart clenched. He would have never imagined, that one day, that family in front of him was all he wanted 

‘Oh, Raquel he thought why it had to come to this, I didn’t want it to be like this’ They began calling for people to enter the plane and he made the craziest decision he’s ever made; he moved out of the line and ran, he quickly called a private plane to meet with him and take him on a short trip to north America to really live and leave to forget, for the last time. 

It was on that plane where his mask slipped and he let all his emotions come out, when the flow of his tears stopped, his thoughts and emotions kept running through his mind, during these times he would usually make origami, but this time he wanted to write them down. He isn’t a man of words, he doesn’t know how to voice his opinions let alone his emotions, but right now he felt like this was the right thing to do. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from his bag and began to write. 

He wrote for quite a while, and when he finished, he folded that piece of paper and slipped it into his pocket and let himself close his eyes to get some rest. 

Many many hours later, he landed on Candian grounds, it was mid fall, and Canada was bit colder than what he was used to but, he wasn’t looking for a sunny beach right now. He was looking for some place to rest and to get cozy, and somewhere he’s never been before. 

He decided that he would stay here for about a week, or two, just to give him time to disconnect himself from his old life. He got into an uber and found a nearby hotel he could stay at, he went to the front desk to make a reservation, and only then did he notice that he didn’t have his phone on him. “Dammit” his whispered, he must have left it in the car, “whatever” he thought “I’ll just call them from... the hotel phone? And maybe I'll get it back, but it doesn’t really matter to me anyways.” he shrugged his shoulders, 

Like a miracle, he was able to reserve a room for 12 days in such short notice. It was about 8:00 pm in Canada, which meant it was 2:00 am back hom- back in Madrid. He felt the jetlag of the trip hit him like a truck, he knocked out on the bed and woke up the next day around the afternoon, though he hated it, the first thing he thought about was Raquel, and wondering what she was doing. The time zones were different, where he was, was 6 hours behind of Madrid. He hated that he did the math and knew that Raquel would probably be getting into bed now, and what he hated even more, was the thought of Raquel in bed with another man. 

He shrugged himself out of bed, slipped on a jacket headed and downstairs, he ignored anyone who looked his way and went straight to the exit. He walked out of the hotel, and noticed a bar in his sight a little walk away across the street. Without a thought, he crossed the street and sat himself at the bar at the small bar, it wasn’t very busy and it was a good place for him to be alone, as he ordered a drink, and another and another. 

Who knew this day drinking would become a habit? 

****** 

Raquel 

She and Andres cried as they saw the lifeless body in front of them, Raquel’s cheeks were soaked with tears as she whispered a silent “I’m sorry” to him. She pulled a strand of Sergio’s long hair and moved it behind his ear and froze. 

“A-Andres?!” 

Andres wiped his face and looked at her “what?” 

“Andres this isn’t Sergio!” 

“w-what” he said sobering up 

“Andres, do you remember Sergio having a tattoo?” she said eyeing the small inked snake behind his ear, she pulled down the remaining fabric of the mans shirt revealing different tattoo patterns on his right peck. “Because I don’t remember it, and this definitely isn’t fresh!” she yelled hopeful 

Andres scootched over and took a look “By gods holy shit, this isn’t Sergio!” he jumped to his feet and pulled Raquel into a hug “holy shit!” he yelled again “Now where is this hijo de puta”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear your thoughts <333


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raquel partners up with Andres, Silene and Anibal on the search for Sergio  
> Where has Sergio been, what has he been doing? this chapter we will find out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I just wanted to say this this story might get a little messy at times.  
> It's like a have an idea of what I want in the story but I don't know how to get from point A to point B.  
> If you ever get confused, please feel free to comment your questions.

Raquel

“Excuse me officer!” Raquel called “Excuse me, I want to confirm that this is not Sergio Marquina” 

“Are you sure?” the female officer asked 

“yes, I'm very sure” Raquel and Andres nodded in agreement 

“thank you” the officer said and had them sign a piece of paper in confirmation “Are you sure Sergio Marquina was even on this plane?” she asked 

Raquel and Andres looked at each other “we’re not very sure” 

“you guys should have confirmed if he was even on this plane before filing a report” she said a little snappy 

“shut up, he said he was going and he booked a ticket!” Raquel got defensive 

“but do you know if he got on the plane?” she said back 

“no but he’s missing, and not anywhere did we announce to the public that he was on the plane! We said he booked a ticket for it!” she almost yelled, an Andres was holding her back 

“Okay, okay calm down, he’ll probably show up” she said and ushered them out 

****** 

Once they were in the car, Andres dialed Silene to tell her the news, and Raquel could hear her screaming from the other line, laughing and crying in relief. Sliene then asked why he went to Paris and Raquel confessed the story, Silene listened and when she heard Raquel release a sob, she started cursing Alberto and his guts making them all laugh. After a while, he hung up and Raquel asked him 

“so what do we do now?” 

“we need to see footage if he got on that plane or not, Raquel tell me, did you see him get onto the plane?” 

“n-no I’m sorry I couldn’t watch the video, he looked so hurt” 

“It’s okay” 

“No I'm such an idiot, I could have spared you of this fear if I watched the whole thing” 

“It’s fine, I don’t even know if I could watch him in pain either.” he assured her “did you bring your laptop with you?” 

Surprisingly, amongst all the things she threw in her bag, she brought her laptop “Yes! I have it in my bag” she reached for it and pulled it out, she shakily put in her password and went to the video footage that was sent to her. 

The video began again, Sergio went through all the security, shoulders slumped with a cold stern face and made it all the way to his gate. Sergio was standing in line and people were already giving in their tickets, “This is the part where I stopped” she announced, as the video continued Sergio sadly looked at the family of three and Raquel's heart broke, but then Sergio looked around again and stepped out of the line. 

“Wait look, what is he doing?” Andres pointed out 

They both watched as Sergio took out his phone and ran out of frame, and the last passengers of the plane got in. 

Wide eyed they looked at each other “he didn’t get on the plane!” they both screamed. 

“Andres I’m so sorry, if only I watched the rest of the video-” 

“No Raquel, I wouldn’t have made it that far either, I would have ended it when he looked at the small family, you could see how sad he was” 

Raquel looked away; she knew what Sergio was probably thinking about when he looked at that family. 

“I’m so-” she was about to apologize again but Andres interrupted her 

“Raquel stop, no more apologizing. You are here and you are helping look for him” 

Raquel was going to say something again, but he gave her a warning look, so she just nodded. 

****** 

Sergio

For the past few days, Sergio has been going to the bar across the street, and drinking till he got kicked out, and in the middle of the night, even though the hotel was in such short distance, he could barely make it, stumbling and tripping on his own feet. 

Sergio wasn’t much of a drinker, but he wanted to forget about Raquel, and when he woke up the next fay and thought about her, he went back to the bar and it became a horrible pattern. He didn’t care about anything anymore, he just had one thing on his to do list, “forget” at this point he didn’t care about contacting anyone, or his phone, it could be god knows where, in the back of that uber, or in the pocket of someone's pants “who cares, I’m rich, I can just buy another one” he feigned nonchalant and went on with his routine. 

Today, he went to the bar again, he still had a headache from the previous day but ordered another drink anyways saying that the alcohol would help him. As usual he ordered a couple glasses of scotch, and an unhealthy amount of vodka till the bartender stopped him. 

“Sir, I think you’ve had enough” the bartender pointed out, “do you want me to call you a cab?” 

Sergio looked up at the bartender, his head felt so heavy and he could barely hear what the other man said “w-what?” he slurred 

“I said do you want me to call a cab?” 

“Oh” he gulped and looked outside, it was dark and raining heavily, you could barely see anything. “Uh it’s raining, can I just stay here and have one more drink?” 

“Sir you’ve been here since this morning, I think it’s time to leave, would you like a cab?” he asked again 

“N-no it’s fine, my hotel is just across the street” 

“I can get someone to accompany you if you’d like” 

“No no, it’s fine” he said getting up, he slipped on his jacket and starred at the downpour outside. He pulled the tops of his jacket over his head, and began to run to the hotel. 

He was in the middle of the road when he knew he messed up, he took one look to his left, and all he saw were the two headlights of a large truck headed straight towards him, and the blaring horn in his ears. The next thing he knew, he was on the wet pavement. He was in pain; he couldn’t move or talk and his whole body was in pain and it hurt to breathe. 

People were standing around him, and there was a bright light of what he thinks was an ambulance or flashlights flashing in his eyes as he fought to keep them open and of course, he couldn’t, and he let them close. 

****** 

Raquel, 

Andres and Raquel returned to Madrid, they’ve continued for their search for Sergio, and they think they have been coming onto some leads. They met up with Silene and Anibal, of course the whole gang wanted to help, but they didn’t have many helpful things besides kind words, but with the help of Silene’s boyfriend Rio, with his expertise in technologies, the were able to track down the last known location of Sergio’s phone. 

“Andres, Raquel, Silene, we were able to track the location of Sergio's phone!” 

“Really?” Raquel almost shouted 

“But I have some bad news, his signal went way past Spain, and we lost signal, so all we know is that he isn’t anywhere in Spain” 

“Damn” Andres sighed, “well at least this is a start” 

“A very slow start” Silene added 

They spent the day at Andres house, and Paula was already sleeping in the guest room when Anibal jumped to his feet and yelled “I found something!” 

Everyone clambered next to him as he pointed out, “He was heading west, the signal cut off when he went far to the west!” 

“what do you mean very far west?” questioned Andres 

“I mean very very far west; I think he went to America!” Anibal yelled 

“woah, calm down there, just because he went west doesn’t mean we know where he is” Silene stated as matter of fact 

“No, it doesn’t, but it does mean that we can narrow his location in the west area” Raquel said and grabbed a map to draw a line of the “very west side” as Anibal said, “now we know that this problem is international, and he is right, there is a possibility that he could be in America. So why don’t we make this news of his disappearance international? He is an international supplier after all 

“Very well inspectora” Andres clapped his hands, but Raquel quickly looked away 

“please, don’t call me that” he said sadly, and everyone understood why 

“It’s okay Raquel, we know he’s okay” Silene assured her 

“But we don’t! A-and it’s still my fault that we’re in this situation in the first place!” 

“Raquel” she said softly at first “shut the hell up before I kick your ass” she threatened, and everyone starred at her. 

“Are you married?” she looked at Raquel as she shook her head “no” 

“Did you trick Sergio?” she asked, and Raquel shook her head “no” again 

“Then shut up!” she yelled, and everyone was staring at her wide eyed as she started laughing, and soon enough Andres gave her a playful push saying “shut up” 

Raquel thought about what Silene said, ‘it’s true, I did not lie, I did not trick him. Alberto is just a basterd!’ and started laughing as well, Silene and Raquel were laughing so hard as the two men (more like the man and the boy) starred at them like they we’re nut cases, but still couldn’t hold back the contagious laugh. 

They all shared a good chuckle not knowing that Sergio, their loved one really wasn’t okay, and that in that moment he was fighting for his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, comment if you ever have any questions, and thank you for making it to the end <3
> 
> btw I am only realizing all the mistakes I have made in past chapters that might not add up.
> 
> here are some answers to questions you might have:  
> -Sergio called a personal plane, and no one knew about it  
> -I don't know why I made it seem like it was so hard to find Sergio and that Raquel didn't know how to track him down   
> -Sergio has been gone for about a week and a half


	12. I found you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can you guess who found Sergio? That's right, they found him!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween everyone, I hope you have a good day and stay safe.  
> Since we can't go out trick or treating, I've decided to give you all a good treat, it's a little short, but it's a new chapter :)

Sergio woke up with a struggle, he was held down onto a beg as they pulled him down the corridors of the hospital hallway and into a room, he was trying to scream but he couldn’t, he could see that the people around him were saying something, but he couldn’t hear them over the buzzing in his ears. There were people moving everywhere and they kept moving him which made him groan in pain. 

Lights, people, estrays, needles, everything was moving so fast, he was looking around panicking, and he couldn’t breathe, till one of the doctors held him down as they cut into his side and stuck a tube into him. He took in a deep breath and started coughing through his tight jaw, but he felt like he still couldn’t breathe! the person above him supporting his head called another doctor over and they were examining his head, ears, mouth, eyes and everything. 

He was wheezing as he saw the doctor grimace as he looked at him, he walked away, and soon came back with gauze wrapped around his fingers, he mouthed something to Sergio, but he couldn’t understand, suddenly the doctor stuck his fingers in his mouth and pulled his jaw down. Sergio screamed in pain feeling like his jaw was being ripped open (which it was) and the last thing he remembered was the doctor above him positioning another tube into his mouth. 

****** 

Three days since they confirmed that Sergio was never on the plane, Raquel even with being concerned about him, has already cried all her tears, and felt a strong burden taken off her shoulders, ‘what Silene said was right, it wasn’t my fault, were going to find Sergio and he is okay’ but today she felt off. 

It was become a small routine that after school, her and Paula would go to Andres house. Paula would be able to do her homework and then go play outside on the trampoline that was still there, while she, Andres, Martin who helped as much as he could, Silene and Anibal worked together to get more information on Sergio’s whereabouts. 

They were all in the living room again, going through everything they knew till Andres yelled into his hands “Fuck it been over a week now and there is still no sign of him!” 

“is there still no news around?” Silene asked 

“no, nothing I haven’t seen anything anywhere” Anibal answered 

They were all silent bus noticed how Raquel was so in thought 

“Raquel are you okay?” Andres asked 

“something feels off” she said in a whisper 

“what do you mean off?” 

“I don’t know, I just feel like something is going to happen today” she said and shrugged her shoulders. Just then, Paula came running in breathless and plopped herself on the couch in the middle of everyone and asked to watch some tv. 

“Sure” Andres agreed “let’s take a break” he grabbed the remote and flicked on the tv 

“Wait, I found something!” Anibal yelled “I tracked down any signal from his phone anywhere in America and he used his credit card when he ordered an uber in North America, Ottawa in Canada!” 

Everyone jumped to their feet screaming “We found him! We found that idiot!” till Paula pointed to the screen “mama look at the TV” 

Everyone starred at the screen wide eyed and Raquel covered Paula’s eyes and ears 

“Sergio Marquina International supplier and company owner for the cider brand Resistencia, found in Canada after a very serious accident involving a truck” a female reported said “he is in a very critical condition, but that’s all we know right now, more updates will come to you soon. The weather in-” 

Andres turned off the tv after hearing everything he needed to hear. They all sat there, in complete silence and the little girl was the first to break it, “mama what happened?” 

Silene hid her head in Rio’s chest as he cried, Andres was staring at the black tv and Raquel was numb, she knew something was off, she knew something would go wrong today, adrenaline was coursing through her veins and the world was spinning. The only thing that brought her back was Paula asking her the same question again. 

“mama what happened to Sergio” 

She looked around for someone to speak up, but they didn’t so she spoke, “Paula um... all we know is that uh... Sergio is in Canada and now...” 

“he’s in Canada? Why? Is he okay? I thought he went to Paris, didn't the plane crash? Is he there for his business trip?” she piled question after question 

Raquel was lost for words and Andres helped her out “Paulita, we don’t know much, but we are going to see if he is okay.” 

“okay... is my mom going to go with you?” 

“if that’s okay with you, she would like to go and see him” 

“can I go?” 

“Paula honey, you have school remember, let’s see, I'm going to on a short trip to find Sergio, and you can stay with auntie Alicia” Raquel and Alicia had talked about a situation like this before and offered to watch Paula whenever she needed even at short notice. 

“But I want to come, we haven’t traveled in so long” 

Raquel shook he head not trying to convey any emotions in front of her child simply said “I’ll tell you what, we I come back, you, me, Mr. Bunny and auntie Alicia will all go on a little trip on the long weekend. How does that sound?” with a forced fake smile

“hmm okay!” she said and ran back outside to play, Raquel watched her till she was out of sight and finally a tear slipped down her face. 

****** 

As soon as Raquel had everything prepared for Paula and Alicia, she took off with the other straight to a private jet for the fastest way there. 

Sitting on that plane, knowing that in a few hours she would see him again, that she would see his face, his beard, his hair and that she would be able to tell him the truth and stopped the plain, made her so anxious. She was waiting in anticipation just like everyone else looking anywhere and everywhere to find something to distract her, till Andres tapped her on the shoulder. 

“Hey, are you okay?” 

“y-yeah I’m just nervous” 

“you know what, here” he reached into his bag and pulled out a notebook, ripped a page out and handed one to everyone. “I taught Sergio that if you ever feel stressed, that something is bothering you, or if you every have any thoughts, to write it down, I tried to get him to write something, but it never worked for him and he ended up folding the paper into some sort of animal.” he laughed 

“I remember when dad taught us to make a lotus” Silene said, she then started teaching everyone step by step how to make it. 

Their laps were full of different paper structures, and they finally calmed down enough to get some rest and others were able to get some sleep. 

****** 

Many hours later, they landed in Ottawa and jetlag hit them straight in the face. 

“I’m so dizzy” Silene slurred 

“Come on, we are so close to him!” Raquel said excited 

“Where do we go next?” Andres asked 

“I suggest we call hospitals looking for him.” Anibal said “but it’s going to take forever” 

“Calm down, we know what area he was in, it’s not like we have to call every hospital in Ottawa. He ordered an uber to a hotel, and we can assume that was where he was staying, which means we should start searching in that area.” Raquel stated and everyone agreed 

“but the question is, why it didn’t show on the records that he paid for a hotel” Silene said 

“Sergio is a sneaky man Silene, you know that. If he wants to hide, he’ll hide, but he also makes mistakes, he used his phone to order the uber, which is connected to his card, in this case his mistake is in our favor.” Andres reminded her 

Raquel was right, it didn’t take long for them to find out what hospital Sergio was at, as soon as they had the location, they all hopped into a car drove straight there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading,  
> have fun and stay safe today <3
> 
> (don't forget to ask questions if you have any)


	13. what happened to you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yes they are now with Sergio,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys this chapter has a lot of medical talk, I based some of this information from shows, my prior knowledge and help from a med student aka my sister, still it doesn't really talk about the medicine because this story isn't about that, it's about love lmao. In the next chapter there will be a big time skip, maybe two months I don't know.  
> Bare with my little knowledge :/

The next time Sergio woke up, he felt strange and in a lot of discomfort. He grimaced, his whole body was in pain, he tried to look around, but he could only move his head so much, and it was much easier to just move his eyes, everything was blurry, blurrier than normal, but he could make out the white wall of the hospital. He felt helpless, like the small little sick boy who spent his life in a hospital who couldn’t do anything but sit in bed, but worse. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t ‘what the’ he thought as he tried to open his mouth again and failed. He looked around for help, he could see people walking outside of his room, but there was no noise, no talking, no sounds of beds being pushed, no footsteps, nothing. 

He moved his arm to signal for help, but it hurt, slowly but surely, he was able to move it from his original spot, but that wasn’t enough. A doctor walked by his door, and Sergio began to yell but then noticed how he made no sound or did he. He continued to yell though he couldn’t hear anything, and was getting frustrated and began to kick around, which only cause him more pain. It was just him who couldn’t hear his own screams, because doctors and nurses began rushing into his room. 

He tried to rise from the bed through the pain, and he felt like that was the biggest mistake because as soon as he did that his whole body shot with pain, horrible, horrible pain. He screamed and people pushed him back down onto the bed so he wouldn’t continue to hurt himself, and started pulling him down the hallway again. 

“NO, NO, NO” he repeated in his head as they moved down the hall and they crossed a sign that read “surgical unit” 

They brought him into a room and injected his with something, and he felt that his pain faded away, “oh” he sighed as the world around him stopped spinning, the edges of his vision began to darken and turn blurry, he felt groggy, but good type of groggy, and he accepted it as closed his eyes again. 

****** 

The next time Sergio woke up, he was unsure about how much time has passed, he groaned through his still closed and dry mouth. He looked around the four walls of his room, and though his vision was blurry, he swears he could make out the stupid heads of his brother and sister talking to someone at the nurse's station. 

He began yelled their names with a muffled cry, and again he couldn’t hear himself, but he knew they hear him when they turned their heads and started running in his direction. 

They stood by his bed, pouring tears onto him; Silene had one hand by his and one on her mouth to cover her cries, and Andres was by his legs with both of his hands on his face. 

Andres moved up to Sergio and began talking to him without knowing that Sergio couldn’t hear him. Sergio watched him with a confused face and tried to read his lips, but he couldn’t and that didn’t go unnoticed by Andres, “Sergio what's wrong” he asked, but Sergio just shook his head confused. 

Andres and Silene looked at each other confused, Andres pointed at his ears and mouthed “Can you hear me?” as best as he could, and Sergio shook his head no again. He left the room and came back with a doctor, who which Sergio assumed explained everything to his siblings because he noticed their shocked expressions and new waves of tears, 

When they arrived at the hospital, there were two parts to it, so Raquel and Anibal spilt up with the siblings to look for Sergio. With no luck finding him of their side, they took a seat on the chairs of the waiting area and Raquel felt her phone buzz, she looked at her phone, (it was roaming, meaning that their phone plans are out of range ) and shot to her feet, “It’s Andres, they found him” she announced and grabbed Anibal and started running. 

They approached where Andres said he was and found him pacing outside of the room, 

“what's wrong?” Raquel asked 

“it’s bad, it’s really bad” Andres said 

“what?” 

“Sergio, he’s really bad” 

“is he awake?” 

“yes” 

Raquel walked past him, and was about to open the door when he stopped her, 

“Raquel you might hurt him if you go in there, we can’t put him under any stress” he said 

“I’m not going to; don’t you think that me telling him to truth would give him relief?” 

“You can’t even talk to him” 

“what do you mean?” 

“Raquel he can’t talk or even hear you” 

“what the hell, why?” 

“Raquel,” he grabbed her shoulder, “his jaw was shifted, and something happened to his ears, I don’t know what it is, but he can’t hear you” he said shaking his head 

She starred at Andres for what felt like forever, then pushed right passed him and walked into Sergio’s room, her heart stopped, he looked... horrible, horrible was the only word she thought of. There were tubes and wires connected to him, he was covered in casts, bandages and bruises, he looked horrible. 

She stood by the door and watched Silene who was crying beside Sergio, Silene looked up when she came in, and Sergio must have noticed that too, because his line of sight followed her direction to Raquel. 

His heart rate sped up “She’s here, she’s here” he thought happily but then he thought “why is she here? What is she doing here” afraid, he started kicking around, wanting to get up, wanting to run away, wanting Raquel to go away and not see him in this state. 

He was kicking and yelling through his caged mouth and Raquel just watched in horror as he struggled because she was frozen, and she didn’t know what to do. Next, and bunch of nurses and a doctor came rushing in and pushed her and Silene out the door. They watched from afar as they tried to calm him down. 

He was now kicking, because he felt like he wasn’t getting enough air, he saw how they sent Raquel and Silene outside and tended to him. He was gasping through his closed mouth, wanting nothing more than to open his mouth wide and suck in as much air as possible but he couldn’t. The doctor held him in place and came back with wire cutters and began to cut the wires keeping his mouth closed, one by one he could feel his mouth open, and when the last one was cut, his mouth swung open and he was finally able to reach the air he needed. 

He breathed heavily till his breathing became normal, he knew that cutting those wires, would set back all the work from the past week, feeling the discomfort in his jaw, but he needed it. The doctors gestured everyone out and he assumed that he told them that visitor's hours were over as they all frowned and walked away. They let him get some air for a few hours, and they would rewire him again later. He laid down in his bed again, breathing through his mouth taking advantage before they closed it again. 

He starred at the ceiling as thoughts raced through his mind 

“she was here, she's here, she came to look for me, and I'm sitting in this bed like a loser. Why did she come? She has a family to tend to, she has a daughter a-and a husband at home.” 

Many thoughts went through his head, but he was exhausted, and he couldn’t take it anymore and he went to sleep. 

****** 

“Excuse me doctor what just happened?” Raquel asked 

“He had a small panic attack, and he couldn’t breathe properly, so be unclipped his wires” 

“I mean everything, tell me- us everything that happened” 

“What do you guys know?” 

“Just that he got into an accident” Andres replied 

“So, Mr. Sergio marquina got into an accident, he got his by a large truck on a rainy night last Friday... we are assuming that it he didn’t see the truck because of the weather and because he was intoxicated” 

“He was drunk?” 

“Yes, very, we ran a test on him, and he was very intoxicated that night, and the bartender from the bar nearby said that he has been visiting often” 

“He doesn’t drink” Andres defended, he has never seen his brother drink to the point of being drunk 

“Well, those nights he did, an ambulance was called, and he was taken to the er, I could take you all into the room to discuss his injuries” 

They all were led into the room, it all felt scary, waiting to hear about everything that happened to him. The room felt empty and cold, despite how it was filled with people, they all sat down as Sergio’s doctor continued. 

He pulled out his tablet, and some of Sergio’s charts and x-rays as he explained: 

“Last Friday, he came in with a dislocated shoulder, one broken arm, one fractured arm, dislocation in the left leg and road burn on the right.” he listed and looked up at everyone to confirm that they were paying attention and that they understood what he was saying. (I am just listing the injuries, the doctor obviously explained them in further detail) 

“He had a collapsed lung, bruised and fractured ribs, he had a slight fluid buildup in the brain, but that was nicely reduced during his coma” 

“Coma!” Andres exclaimed 

“yes, Mr. Marquina was in a medically induced coma to deal with the very fluid buildup and to let his body rest from the trauma, it was only for about 6 days since the fluid buildup was so very small. 

there were no further brain injuries, and his head is fine, except for a few bruises and a heavy concussion. This was a very severe crash; and we think that the truck hit him very hard and at a fast speed and that Mr. Marquina slid across the road 

They all starred at the doctor with wide teary eyes, everyone was in tears even Anibal threw his hood on and covered his eyes. As the doctor continued to torture them with more news 

“when we woke Mr. Marquina up, there was a small complication, he was moving too much, and his ribs were pressing on his lung, but we corrected that in surgery. We are only at the beginning of his recovery, there is a lot of work to do. 

So far, we have fixed his fluid buildup, casted and realigned his fractures and dislocations, and we have wired his mouth shut to properly heal his jaw, we have undone the wiring, but we will redo it tomorrow morning. As for his hearing, it is temporary, and will come back on its own.” 

They discussed a lot of things till Silene asked, 

“is there any way we can transport him to Spain?” 

“We can transfer him as soon as he is stable, and I cannot say when that will be” 

“will there be any permanent damage?” 

“again, we cannot say, but there might be a long process of correcting the movement of his limbs” 

Questions like this carried on, till everyone was exhausted and the doctor had to go back to work. 

“Thank you, doctor,” they all said 

“I will do my best, to get him back to normal” he replied

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will explain what happened in the time skip next chapter so stay tuned.   
> I'm not sure when it will come out, because I really need to focus on school before I fail, but hopefully soon :)


	14. Dear Raquel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raquel gets a hold of the letter that Sergio had previously written for her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, sorry this took so long I procrastinate way too much on writing and school, anyways I hope you like this chapter.  
> I've had this letter written since I wrote that Sergio's left to Canada, so I guess we all waited for it to arrive to Raquel.  
> the crossed out words in the letter means that Sergio tried to cross out the words but you can still read them.  
> And oops I lied, there is no time skip in this chapter, it will be in the next one

As they were all leaving the hospital, the doctor pulled her aside, “Excuse me miss, are you Mr. Marquina’s partner?” he asked and she starred at him in shock and so much confusion

‘what the hell does he mean partener?’ she thought “sorry what?” she said confused

“are you Raquel?” he asked, and she sighed with so much relief

“yes I am” she said

“okay, we found this letter sticking out of his jacket pocket when he came here. I’m not sure if he was going to give it to you, but here you go” he said handing it to her “no one looked at it, we just saw your name on the back and supposed you would want it.”

“thank you” she said and examined the folded piece of paper that hand a few crinkles in it, a little mud stain and a few smudges of pen because it was previously wet.

She followed along with everyone else back to the hotel they were staying at for two weeks, she had already called Alicia and apologized profusely to her daughter for having to stay away, while Alicia was surprisingly calm and understanding not like the usual fiery headed, crack head energy friend she was.

Only when everyone was asleep, did she silently get up and slip into the bathroom to read Sergio’s note in private

"Dear Raquel, I’m not mad at you, I’m just upset you didn’t tell me before. I really enjoyed our time together, and I really hope that it wasn’t all a façade, I do hope that you really felt something between us, a connection or even just a sliver of it, because I felt it, I’ve never felt like this before, I've never felt this desire to be alive so much before I met you, because I'm in love with you, and it hurts that the feeling might be one sided, but I still love you even when it hurts."

She covered her mouth feeling that her eyes are burning with tears "oh Sergio" she sighed "I'm so sorry, of course I felt the connection between us and none of it was fake, because I love you too" she thought to herself

"I hope that you will carry on with your life and will be happy without me, as I will try to carry on. Even if our relationship was built on a lie, I really had fun and I hope you and Paula had fun too on our little chapter in life. This might be the last time I will ever connect with you, I’m not even sure if I will send this letter, but if I do, don’t come looking for me because I will be long gone."

"Oh how much has his poor soul been hurting believing all the lies of Alberto, how much pain did he feel mentally before physically" she thought

"I’ve taken a spontaneous trip to Canada before I start my life in Paris, and I did this because you’ve taught me to live my life on the edge, and I want to thank you for that. Yes, it’s true I am leaving because of the news about your infatuation with another man, and now more than ever do I need to restart my life I know leaving will hurt, and I will miss you, your hair, your eyes, your body, your voice, your laugh, all of you, even your daughter, I will miss her and Mr. Bunny very much."

Tears were already streaming down her face and she loved how he was trying to stay positive though she knew he was in so much pain. She wiped her face a little and noticed how the next few lines were crossed out, but she could still make out the words that broke her heart.

~~"But I can’t believe you did this to me, I can’t believe you lied to me, you are the first woman I have ever opened up to and trusted and loved so much, but I was repaid with lies, everything was a lie. You hurt me, it feels like my heart is being ripped out, Yes, I am leaving because of you, I am leaving because if I stayed and knew you were with another man, I probably wouldn’t have survived. Don’t ever come looking for me, leave me, move on with your husband and be faithful."~~

she held the letter in one hand, and with the other she grabbed a towel to help suppress the painful sobs coming from her, trying not to wake up her room buddy Silene in the other room "oh god" she prayed "please save him." she wasn't religious, but she felt like she needed a greater power on her side to make sure she got to talk to Sergio. These few lines were probably a burst of pent up anger and he was finally able to let it go by writing it down. She could read the pain through his words, they were a little smudged from being wet, and she can only hope that it was from the rain and not from his own tears.

"I’m sorry don’t read that, if this is my last letter with you, I want it to be happy and not some sort of one-sided argument. would you mind telling Paula that I am traveling the world as a secret spy and I have to go undercover? I know she loves those movies called “spy kids” and I think this would be an easier way for her to cope with me leaving. Say I'm going on a mission, and I might not return, but don’t let her think I died! I will try to send her gifts from my “Travels” through Andres maybe. ~~And I guess you can make up your own story or lie for you husband about the gifts~~ And you can make up your own story for your husband."

She couldn't stop being surprised about how he stilled cared about her and Paula, well mostly Paula, trying to make a game and adventure so that she would be able to cope with his disappearance not knowing what laid ahead of him, oh she hope that she won't have to tell Paula that Sergio didn't fail his mission and that he won't return though Paula already knew that he was not a spy. 

"I don’t know if I can jot down all my thoughts right now, so who knows, maybe you’ll get another letter in the far future."

She hopes that she will be able to get anything, even another angry letter from Sergio in the future.

"-Sergio M."

She sat silently on the ground, face in the towel covering her cries and all she could think about was Sergio dying or surviving.

She imagined him surviving and being happy to see her as she explains that Alberto was lying, he would take her in his arms and hug her tight as the both cry. Then she imagined that when they go to the hospital tomorrow, his body would be cold and lifeless as they cover his body with a sheet and pronounce him dead.

She went to sleep and had many nightmares about him, and woke up multiple times with a cry, each dream resulted with him dying in the end. The next morning she was the first one up and clapped her hands to get Silene out of bed so they could see Sergio. "come on, come on, let's go!" she called

"Raquel is it even visiting hours?" Sher asked annoyed as she looked at the clock and saw that it was 5:30 am

"the visiting hours open in 30 minutes, now go get ready!" she pulled the blanket of of Silene as the other curled up in a ball and groaned into her pillow before getting up.

Raquel then proceeded to go to the other room where they boys were staying and with the spare key opened the door, then she did the same procedure with them pulling both their blankets off. Impatiently they all sat in the car and when they arrived at the hospital, Raquel rushed straight to Sergio's room. When she made it there it was deadly silent and she hated that, she cracked Sergio door open a bit and saw that he was peacefully sleeping, or at least trying to. She let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding and closed the door again turning to the others as they caught up with her, and sighing in relief she said "he's still alive" and then repeated it to her herself in a whisper "he's still alive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again, thanks for making it the end, I think I might be less busy now, so I will be able to write more :) idk we'll see how this week works out.


	15. come visit me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raquel visits Sergio everyday, but one day something changes, something good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so this is where the time skip comes in, it's not as confusing as I thought it would be (not at all) , I'm just overthinking everything haha, I didn't write much about Raquel's past, but I can talk about it more if you want, just let me know.  
> btw "..." means silence

Sergio has been hospitalized for the past two months, since then he was able to recover and become stable enough to be transferred back to Spain. Sergio was transferred back to a hospital in Madrid about a month and a half after the accident, there, the gang would go and visit him, but they also had lives to live, so they came whenever they were available, but Raquel, she came whenever she could, and stayed by his bedside along with the two siblings. She would try to see him at least 3-4 times a week just to check up on him, though he was usually just sleeping and resting. 

Then came a day where the siblings and even Martin were called for business duty that they couldn’t ignore anymore. They asked Raquel to be the one to watch Sergio and they trusted her to take care of him, during the visits he would usually be sleeping, but now came a time where he was awake more. 

Whenever she came when he was awake, he would always try to turn away from her and cover his eyes not to see her, he would push her away and refuse things from her, he would put up a fight and get frustrated still refusing help, but even though it hurt, she stayed, she stayed by his side even when he didn’t want her too. She would sit on a chair by his bed and silently read a book. 

When the days flew by, and Sergio was able to exchange his cast for an arm brace, whenever Raquel would visit, she would hold his hand and read her book. Like always he would flinch and move away, but every day she continued to do it she slowly felt him get used to it. 

When Sergio felt her small hand grabbed his for the first time in months, he flinched, he moved away, he shouldn’t be holding hands with a woman who is married, but for some reason she kept coming back to him and holding him. Day by day when she visited, Sergio would now look for her hand, when she sat beside him, he would move his hand closer and she would take it. Sergio now looked for the warmth of her small and soft hands that somehow wanted to hold his cold and clammy ones. 

Another month past, and the siblings would regularly trust Raquel to watch Sergio when they weren’t available and always apologized on Sergio’s behalf for his previous but still not completely gone coldness. this month they had to take a business trip for a very important meeting with Martin help fill in for Sergio and trusted that Raquel would visit him every once in a while. 

One night, on a day Sergio knew Raquel was going to come, he waited for her, and waited, and waited, but she wasn’t coming and that night, he just couldn’t take the pain of his injuries, especially the one coming from his ears, or the pain of being alone in a hospital again. He was crying and sobbing into his pillow, but nothing too much that would alert the doctors. He closed his eyes and continued to cry, not even noticing that someone had entered his room, till his felt a small, warm body lay gently next to him and support his head with their arm, he felt their warm breath on his face, and felt them wipe his face and comb through his hair with their fingers. 

“...” 

“...” 

“...s” 

“...ss” 

“shh...” 

“Ser...” 

“Shh...” 

“...okay” 

“shh... calm down...” 

“Shh... you’re going to be okay...” 

“please calm down, your snot is going on my shirt” the person whispered, and Sergio stopped crying for a moment and laughed. 

“here let me get you a tissue” he heard a sweet voice say and she moved, but stopped abruptly 

“wait Sergio!” she said, and Sergio opened his eyes to look at her, ‘of course it’s her, it’s always her’ he thought but she snapped her fingers a couple times to get his attention. 

“Sergio can you hear me?!” she said excitedly, and he nodded yes, confused of her excited tone 

“Oh my gosh, Sergio you can hear me!” she said, and he nodded again, the brightest smile appeared on her face and he returned it with a little closed mouth smile realizing what just happened. He could hear again! 

A new wave of tears came to his eyes, Raquel gently cupped his face and began to pepper his face with a bunch of kisses, from his cheeks, to forehead, and to her delight he didn’t flinch or move away but continued to cry in her hands until she placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth, and he jerked away from her touch. 

He looked away from her, hurt and as if she had broken the law, confusion took over her till she realized what he must be thinking. 

“Sergio” she called to get his attention again and once he looked back at her she held his hand, “Sergio I’m not married” she wasn’t sure what reaction she wanted to get from him, but she certainly didn’t think of silence. He just starred at her, confused and in disbelief, he’s not sure how he should react, and he isn’t sure what he’s feeling ‘she’s not married? Or she not married anymore because of what happened?’ he thought. 

“Sergio everything Alberto said was a lie, if he said anything about us being together, it was a lie. He is... he is my ex-husband, he's been my ex-husband, all this happened because I just didn’t want to talk about my past.” she looked down 

‘so she not married’ he concluded with a sigh ‘what a bastard Alberto is!’ he was furious and fuming, just look at what a stupid lie or joke that man found funny did to him, physical pain, he caused physical pain. He took a deep breath and looked at Raquel who was deep in her thoughts and squeezed her hand, saying that he was glad it wasn’t true. 

When she looked back up, Sergio did not expect to find her face full of tears, 

“Sergio, I’m so sorry for all of this. I know we’ve never talked about our past lives, but I think I want to tell you, no I need to tell you.” 

“Alberto, he’s like this, he manipulates and lies to people to cause pain, and causing pain to me is like his pastime. He wasn’t a good husband, and I should have seen this before I had a kid with him” she sighed, and Sergio squeezed her hand to confirm that he was listening. 

Every word she said made Sergio even more furious if that was possible, if he was in a cartoon, smoke would be coming out of his ears. 

****** 

“And that's how I endured multiple years of him, I always believed it was my fault whenever he beat me or humiliated me, he made me believe it was my fault, a-and anytime I thought about leaving him, I always heard in the back of my mind, him blaming me and telling Paula lies about how I wanted to split up our family.” 

“so, for some time I held it all up just for Paula to have a good family, but as soon as he threw a plate in Paula’s direction, I took her and divorced him, and I know you would ask me about filing a report against him, I didn’t, I was too scared of what he would do to me, he’s a good officer, and I was too embarrassed to go in front of my superiors and admit the hell I went through” 

“until he started seeing my sister, I didn’t want her to go through the same thing I did, so I reported him, but I was late, had no evidence and of course no one believed me” 

By the time she finished her lengthy but brief story of her background, they were both in tears and Sergio could kill someone with the anger that boiled inside him, but now wasn’t the time. He looked at the woman in front of him, how much had this beautiful woman struggled, how could someone even bring themselves to hurt her? He moved his arm as much as he could and with his fingers, he lightly brushed the fallen hairs and wiped her tear-soaked face and moved over on the bed making space for her signaling that he wanted her to lie down. 

She laid down next to him, careful about his other injuries and snuggled gently into his neck. She felt his arm rub her back and move up to massage her head as he pulled her closer to him, she could feel him taking a deep breath trying to inhale her sent in a way he has be deprived of for so long. The pillow turned wet with both of their tears, Sergio cried for Raquel, and she cried for him. 

Sergio is glad he was never truly mad at Raquel, (yes, he got mad in the letter, but never truly mad) he’s glad he never really thought that she was the cause of all these problems and now that he knew the truth, he would move mountains to bring her justice. Alberto will pay, he will pay for ever hurting Raquel mentally and physically, but right now, all he wants to do is to hold her and embrace her after so long. He took a deep breath through his nose inhaling he sweet scent, and hugging her as tight as he could, afraid she would disappear if he didn’t. 

They don’t know how long they were lying together, but Raquel could feel how Sergio’s breathing became regular and that his hand was now rested on her side, when she looked at him, he was peacefully asleep. He looked different this time, this time he actually looked peaceful, his face was relaxed and there was no tension in his eyebrows, oh how she wished she could have told him sooner. 

She gently moved his arm and got off the bed, she plopped herself on the small chair beside the bed and pulled out her phone, she was going to call Andres and Silene, but she felt that Sergio would just like some peace and quiet for now before he gets bombarded by his lovely siblings. 

She gathered all her things to head home, went to sit on the edge of his bed, she lovingly stroked his hair and caressed his still bruised face, she whispered a few loving words in his ears and kissed his forehead “I've missed you Sergio, I’ll be back tomorrow” and got up. 

She turned around one last time before leaving ‘I have him back’ she thought and headed home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys don't have to, but I did just get twitter for the sole purpose of this community and I would love to connect with you all @Profexor_ or @Raquelita_cutie


	16. Mr. Castillo, who are you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raquel is Sergio's frequent visitor, but this time someone else came to pay him a visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everyone, I know its been a while since I last updated. This chapter has taken the longest because whenever I wrote it, it would get deleted or wouldn't save. I've written this chapter about four times :')  
> Each time it got deleted it was like the universe telling me to write a different idea haha and I think this one is the best one.

For the past week Raquel has been waking up with a smile because at the end of the day, she knew she would see Sergio again, and she was finally able to clear the water between them, everything is okay, It's been a while since her days would start off great and she wouldn't let anyone change that. She would try and visit Sergio as much as possible now that he could hear, she didn't want to leave him in his silent room all the time. The first thing Raquel talked about the day after his hearing came back, was to leave calling his siblings till next week because she knew Sergio enough to know he would probably like some peace and quiet, at least for a while.

Whenever Raquel came to visit him, she could see the shine in Sergio’s eyes as soon as he spotted her, like he nothing else mattered but her, and Sergio could see the joy and relief in her eyes each time she saw him. She would come over a while after he ate, and then she would usually lie down beside him and he just played with her hair, hugged her, gave her forehead kisses, and listened to her sweet voice. 

He loved just listening to her, he missed her voice so much, to him it was paradise and it helped calm all his nerves of the trauma he’s had with hospital. 

“why are you staring?” she asked totally forgetting about his inability to talk and she starred at him for a while before she realized “oh sorry” she said and when she looked back at him, she started laughing “sorry, sorry” she tried to cover her mouth with her hand, and he started laughing too. 

“oh god I’m sorry I forgot” she said as they laughed, they probably got a few stares from the people outside, but they didn’t care, especially Raquel, because she hasn’t seen him laugh in the longest time. She admired him as he laughed, and even though his mouth was wired shut, she found him beautiful. 

His chuckle suddenly turned into a sharp hiss followed by struggled coughing, “Sergio are you okay?” she asked worried, he then grabbed his chest and continued to cough, and in the matter of seconds, a nurse came in and handed him an oxygen mask to help him get air. 

Raquel stood beside the bed as the nurse helped him, then she turned around, “miss, thank you for being here, you have truly improved his mood,” she said with a smile which Raquel reciprocated, “but try not to make him laugh or move too much please, he’s still a little fragile” the nurse asked kindly, and Raquel gave a nod. 

She pulled a chair close to Sergio’s bed and sat at his bedside, “sorry, are you okay?” she asked and held his hand, he squeezed her hand took off his oxygen mask and smiled at her. He pointed at his cheek with a slight grin, and she semi-stood up and came to kiss him on the cheek, but he moved his head and caught her kiss on his lips. She smiled and moved back to look at him, as he gave a closed mouth grin, she wished she could give him more than a peck on the lips, but for now this was enough. 

“I love you” she said softly and watched as Sergio closed his eyes, so those words would sink in 

Her words echoed in his ears as he repeated ‘she loves me, she loves me, she actually loves me‘ he opened his eyes again and tried to convey all his love into that stare in a language only they knew ‘and I love you’ as he brought her hand to his lips and planted a soft kiss.

She went home later and thought about what she said, ‘I said it, I actually said it, I said I loved him’ her heart was beaming with love, she’s been in love with him for a very long time, the only times she has said it, was when Sergio was sleeping at her house. She thought it would be too soon to say she fell for him after that because, though she was fully aware of his love for her, she always had doubts, planted by her ex-husband. and when she finally had the urge to tell him face to face, it was already too late, and the events of the horrible past happened, so he made it a point to tell him when the time was finally right, which was today. 

The next morning, and smile graced Raquels lips once again, she happily got up and got Paula ready for school, 

“mama why are you smiling so much” the little girl asked 

“because I’m very happy” 

“why?” 

“because Sergio is getting better” 

“really!” 

“yes!” 

“Can I see him?” she asked excitedly 

“I’m not sure about today, but I’ll ask him vale?” 

“vale” 

She drove Paula to school and then went to work. Every room she walked into shined, everyone there would catch the contagious smile she gave, everywhere she went, everything would just seem brighter, and nothing could ruin that. 

“Why are you smiling” Angel asked 

“am I not allowed to smile?” 

“No, not at all, I’m just wondering what put a smile on your face” 

“Very good news did” 

“What news” 

“just that someone in the hospital is getting better!” she said and her smile grew 

“who?” 

“a friend” 

“who?” 

Raquel was getting annoyed that he kept pushing to know, but she wouldn’t let anyone ruin her day, but before she could say anything, he asked another question. 

“a guy friend?” 

“Why does it matter?” 

“because I’m wondering if that “friend” is the reason why you’ve been declining my drink requests” 

“seriously Angel” now she was very annoyed “I am a single working mother; did it ever occur to you that I don’t have time?” 

“You don’t have time or...” 

“or what” 

“or are you just avoiding me” 

“would you be happier with the answer that I’m not interested or that I’m seeing someone else” she said annoyed and saw him speechless, so she walked away. She sat at her desk and her thoughts were brought back to Sergio, how he would try to smile when she came to visit, how she would lay down next to him, how she would play with his hair, and how much she loved him, once again, a smile graced her lips. 

After work she came home to Paula who took the bus home, and cooked her some food, helped her with homework and snuggled up with her on the couch, later in the afternoon Alicia came over, giving Raquel the chance to go and visit Sergio, so she didn’t have to worry about who would take care of her daughter. 

On her way to the hospital, she thought about all the things she would do with him today 

-Lay down next to him and softly hug him 

-tell him I love him 

-finally call Andres and Silene to tell them about Sergio’s healing 

-Tell him about how Paula would like to visit him 

And everything else she could do with him within the visiting hours. She walked into the hospital and went to the front desk to sign the visitor's sheet, she was very confused when she saw that someone named Mr. Castillo visiting Sergio now, 'maybe a friend decided to pay him a visit' she thought as she signed the sheet and headed to his room. 

Something felt wrong, something wasn’t right, she didn’t know what, but she felt that it had to do with the Mr. Castillo guy. Sergio’s room was in the icu, and it was a semi-private room, with one glass wall so that the doctors and nurses could keep an eye on him if he needed anything, as she rounded the corner, she could hear a voice coming from Sergio’s room, it sounded dangerously familiar and when she finally turned and looked into at them, she froze.  
******

Sergio was having a pretty good day, well as good as a day you could have at a bleak hospital. He was really looking forward to seeing Raquel, because today they would call his siblings, and he also wanted to ask about what she thought about her bringing Paula in to see him since he missed her too. He pulled out a little white board that he has been using to communicate with Raquel and the hospital workers with because of his inability to speak. 

In big letters he wrote “Bring Paula?” just in a short simple form but still easy to understand what he was asking. He put the whiteboard on his bedside and pulled out a book that Raquel gifted him from one her collections. 

It's like Raquel read his mind in what he wanted all the time without him asking, it's like she knew him for years. One surprising example, was that it was Raquel who remembered to get him glasses and she got him a pair with a similar frame to his old ones. He couldn't believe he's been through three pairs of glasses with her now, the thought made him chuckle.

After a while of reading, he had a headache, he put his book down and gently rubbed his eyes under his glasses, as he moved his hands away, he glanced at the clock, Raquel should be arriving soon. His gaze shifted around the room and only then did he notice a figure standing by his door. 

“Hello Mr. Marquina” the man said and began walking closer to him 

A mix of fear and anger came to his body in an instant ‘no it can’t be’ he thought ‘what is he doing here?!’ 

“I thought I’d pay you a little visit” he said as he tapped Sergio’s bed railing. Sergio cautiously watched him and followed his movements, “Are you going to say something!” he suddenly said annoyed, and Sergio shot his gaze up to him, he couldn’t reply, what was he supposed to do. 

“hello?” he called waving his hand at Sergio’s face “are you deaf?” Sergio pushed his hand away clearly bothered making the other Alberto smile, “are you just going to sit there, no polite greeting” getting no response, Alberto laughed “I’m kidding, I know you messed up your jaw or something 

“I can’t imagine getting into a car crash and ending up here” he faced him “What a shame that must be” Alberto’s gaze focused on something beside him, Sergio followed his gazed and saw how it landed on his white board. 

“What the hell is this?” he silently yelled “bring Paula? What are you talking about?” he grabbed the whiteboard “Is that bitch Raquel still visiting you?” 

Sergio wanted to shove his fist so hard into his face Alberto would end up in a room just like his, he has no right to call Raquel that or to be here in the first place. Knowing that trying to move too much wouldn’t do him any good, he reached for the nurse call button, but Alberto was quick to grab his wrist squeezing it a little too hard and yanked him forward. 

“what the hell do you think you're doing?” Alberto tried to say but was interrupted by a strong but quivering voice at the foot of the door, “Alberto!” Raquel yelled and they both turned to her, Sergio saw how pale she looked, her hands were aggressively gripping at her shoulder bag and she was shaking all over. 

“Alberto what are you doing here?” she said almost choking on her words 

Alberto let go of Sergio’s wrist and approached her “I was just paying our friend Sergio a visit” 

“don’t get any closer” she warned him when he got a little too close for her liking 

“No need to get aggressive, I was just telling Sergio how you’re cheating on him like the whore you are” 

That was it, like a twig that snapped, Sergio grabbed the nearest object which was a book and angrily threw it at Alberto hitting him on his back. 

“argh what the fuck” he turned around and basically jumped onto Sergio and Raquel hastily called for security. 

Security quickly rushed in and yanked Alberto away and pinned him against the wall as they put him in handcuffs and dragged him out of the room. Finally, with Alberto out the way, Raquel along with a few nurses rushed to Sergio who was coughing and fervently rubbing his ribs where Alberto had elbowed him. It felt like a rush of euphoria for Raquel, seeing Alberto dragged out of the room, but she also felt so dizzy from everything that just happened in a flash, as well as the dread of the rush of memories that came to her. Her vision was going dark and blurry, she was stumbling to Sergio's bed, and the last thing she sees is Sergio and a nurse reaching their arm towards her before everything faded away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for making it to the end, I'll try not to leave you guys hanging for almost a month again (oops my bad)  
> see you guys next time!


	17. good morning?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raquel wakes up confused, Alberto is long gone in a police custody and now Raquel is given a break from visiting Sergio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops this chapter took me longer than i thought hehe, but here you go  
> sorry for the mistakes in advance, I'm not very good at catching them

Raquel was back at home, huddled onto the couch engulfed by two large arms. There was a sense of belonging in those arms and when she turned her head to look at the person whose head was so gently cuddled into her neck, she saw the familiar black hair paired with a scruffy beard and smelt his very distinctive sent. 

“Sergio” she sighed, she turned in his arms so she could wrap her arms around him and he stirred at her movements. He slowly opened his eyes, looked at her with a warm expression and breathed her in,“buenos dias mi amor” he said, 

“buenos dias” she replied in kind, stunned. 

He began to place soft kisses on her forehead, to her eyes, her cheeks, her nose and finally to her lips. 

“Sergio...” she pulled back in realization, ‘this can’t be real, he’s in the hospital like he has been for months.’ 

“what’s wrong?” he frowned, Raquel was on the verge of tears, he looked so healthy, he looked like the normal Sergio, he looked like he did months ago. ‘how is this possible, I must be dreaming.’ 

All she knew is that she wouldn’t take this fake reality for granted, she ignored his question and brushed her hands in his hair, she was quick to cup his face and bring him back to her lips, she kissed him fervently, it took him by surprise, but he soon started kissing her back with the same passion. 

She continued to kiss him even when she felt a few hot tears burning down her face, she kissed him knowing this wasn’t really Sergio, but she wanted live in the false reality of having him again right now. She ignored her tears, but Sergio pulled back as he felt them wetting his face "Raquel, what’s wrong?” She closed her eyes and sobbed at the sound of her name on his lips, “Raquel...” he looked for her again. 

“I- it’s nothing” she opened her eyes again and sniffled “I love you” 

Sergio pulled back all the way and sat up straight pulling her up with him, “Raquel, are you okay?” 

“Yes I’m okay, are you okay?” 

“I’m fine, but Raquel really, is something happening, why are you crying?” he eyed her suspiciously, but Raquel ignored his question again. 

“Tell me you love me” she wiped her face 

“what?” his eyebrows furrowed 

“tell me you love me Sergio, I want to hear it” she begged. 

“I love you,” he whispered confused 

“again” she demanded “I love you” he said again, after a few moments Raquel wiped her face and sighed “Sergio, is this a dream? Please tell me this isn’t dream” 

“A dream? What would you be dreaming about?” 

“this” she gestured at him, “you, being here all good and healthy” 

“of course not mi amor, I’m here, but can you tell me what you imagined?” 

She sat in a more comfortable position and laid her head on Sergio’s shoulder. 

“I had a dream, but it all felt so real. Alberto my ex-husband turned up at the house while I wasn’t there and somehow told you that I was still married to him” she took in a deep breath before continuing. 

“y- you ran away to Paris and so much happened, it felt so real, you were missing for so long and it was so painful. We- me, your siblings and that kid Rio found you, you somehow ended up in Canada and you were in a horrible crash” 

“in Canada?” he questioned 

“yes in Canada, you had so many injuries, but we were eventually able to bring you back here where you continued to recover. I continued to visit you every day as you recovered, but the last thing I remember is that my ex came to visit you, horrible events went down and I remember seeing him in handcuffs before everything went blank.” 

“My god Raquel, that sounds like a nightmare, I’m so sorry.” he hugged her as she wiped a few tears remembering how much it hurt. “You know what, I can take a break today from work, let me cook you and Paula breakfast.” 

“oh you don’t have to, it was just a silly dream” 

“it was not some silly dream, if anything let me cook to celebrate the first time we said ‘I love you’ face to face” 

“this was not the first time Sergio, don’t you remember?” 

“No, no I don’t” he said genuinely confused “anyways I’m still going to cook breakfast, go wake up Paula” he smiled. 

****** 

Raquel was smiling beyond her belief, she thought she smiled a lot in her dream when Sergio was recovering, but this defiantly took first place. Sergio was here, in her kitchen cooking for her and her daughter, it all felt so domestic and warmed her heart. 

Back from waking up Paula, she came from behind, wrapped her arms around him and hugged him so tight that he had to pull her off to catch his breath. “maybe try not to kill your chef before or you’re not getting any food.” he joked, and she smiled even brighter. “I wouldn’t dare” 

Paula helped wash some fruits to give to Sergio so he could cut them, he made French toast and a few slices of bacon, with a few special heart cut strawberries for Paula. 

They all sat at the table and enjoyed their fresh breakfast; Paula was quick to finish her food saying that it might be one of the best breakfasts she’s ever had and that the heart shaped strawberries taste different from the normal ones. 

Sergio was about to explain how the shape of the non-berry wouldn’t change how it taste, but Raquel kicked his leg under the table telling him not to ruin Paula’s funny belief even though it might prompt Paula to ask for heart shaped strawberries every time. 

Paula went to her room to fetch Mr. Bunny and left Raquel and Sergio to clean up. Raquel was washing the dishes when Sergio came behind her this time, gave her a secure hug and inhaled her. They stayed in that position for a while before her spoke. 

“Raquel?” 

“mhm” she hummed 

“You know when you were telling me about your dream?” 

“Yeah, what about it?” 

“How do you know about my siblings and Rio?” 

“What do you mean, I meet them at the barbeque” she glanced at him with a confused expression, then continued with the dishes. 

“What do you mean, what barbeque do you keep talking about?” 

“remember the one you took me to? The one at your brothers, in the summer.” 

“Raquel are you imagining things or looking into the future?” he released her and looked at her face, “have I told you about them and forgot?” 

“No Sergio, july 23 at the barbeque” 

“Raquel it’s july the 14th are you telling me you're a time traveler he joked.” 

She dropped her fork, everything went fuzzy, she couldn’t understand what Sergio was saying anymore. ‘was all that a dream, it all felt so real, did I really dream months about our relationship? But there's no way I could dream of people he’s never told me about, meaning that...’ 

She looked at Sergio, he had a confused expression on his face, “Raquel?” 

****** 

“Raquel are you okay?” she heard in the distance. “Raquel” someone shook her and she bolted awake. “Raquel wake up” she saw her red headed friend Alicia in front of her, and she brought her hands up to rub her eyes. “Alicia where am I?” 

“Raquel you're in the hospital, you passed out yesterday afternoon and the doctors gave you a room so they could monitor you and keep you hydrated” 

“oh” Raquel said as she glanced around, everything was foggy from sleep, but she saw the bleak walls and the bed and decided yup I’m definitely in the hospital. “Wait, if you're here, where's Paula?” 

“Don’t worry she's with Andres and Sergio in the other room, I came over to check on you and now you're awake” 

“Sergio, oh my gosh is he okay?” 

“he’s fine carino, how about you are you okay? I heard you talking in your sleep” 

“oh I'm fine, just a little sleepy” she sighed “but I just had the strangest dream that none of this” she waved her hands around “that none of this actually happened, and I was back home with Sergio, I was transported back by months to when everything was good.” she fell back onto the pillows “god Alicia I wish none of this happened, I wish Alberto never bothered me and him” 

Alicia gave her a second to calm down, “about Alberto, I have some news about him” 

“what?” 

“I saw him in handcuffs with a bloody nose” she smiled before continuing “the police asked me some questions about who he was, and I would like to tell you that he was being pushed into a cop car a few minutes later.” 

“he gets what he deserves” Alicia concluded 

Raquel stared at her for a few seconds before she burst out laughing “he gets what he deserves” Raquel repeated and Alicia started laughing too, after they both calmed down, they talked about the situation properly. 

“I gave them some information, but you're going to have to speak to them later you know, that right?” Alicia said 

“I know, I’ll do it as soon as I’m ready” 

“good for you, you know this would really help you with your case and full custody. He really fucked up this time” 

“It would, and then I would know I could fully keep my family safe from him” Sergio was included, Sergio was now part of her family too. 

They continued to chat, and a doctor came into check up on her before they were able to discharge her. 

“come let’s go to Sergio’s room” Alicia said 

****** 

Sergio 

He watched as Raquel was stumbling towards his bed and reached out his hand as she fell back onto the ground, a nurse was able to catch her before she hit the ground and got her onto the chair as others assisted him. After a while of her not waking up they got her into her own room not too far from his, the nurses had given him for support on the ribs and pain killers. He spent most of his time worrying about Raquel, the nurses always gave him updates on Raquel when they sensed his panic. 

He noticed that the security was coming around more, or that he would see them frequently, so he didn’t worry about anyone bad coming and pulling a stunt like Alberto. His worry for her eventually tired him out and he ended up falling asleep, the next thing he knew it was morning and his brother was poking his face. 

“Sergio” Andres called and woke Sergio up, Sergio swatted his hands away, “so Sergio, I know what happened, the police told me everything, what a bastard that guy is” he scoffed “but on the other hand, the doctors told me you punched him in the nose! Wow Sergio I thought violence wasn’t you thing!” 

Sergio rolled his eyes at Andres and Andres pinched his cheeks “they also told me you were okay and that you could hear, you dumbass, you should have told me!” 

They walked to his room and as soon as Raquel was at the door, she had her little Paula running straight towards her and jumping on her “mama, you're okay” she squealed 

“of course, sweetie I just took a long... nap” she said as an excuse, Alicia took Paula in her arms and brought her out of the room letting the other adults talk. 

Andres came up to hug her, “I just got here, but i came as soon as I could” he said, “and thank god you're both more or less okay” 

“I’m so sorry Andres, for everything, A- Alberto wouldn’t have come here if it weren't for me” 

“please Raquel it’s okay, Sergio and I both agree, but what I don’t understand is why you didn’t tell me he could now hear!” 

Raquel and Sergio’s eyes met, and his face was plastered with a smile, “He said he would tell you the week after he got it back, which was supposed to be yesterday.” she answered him. 

“unbelievable” Andres turned to Sergio “why would you keep your recovery a secret from you siblings” 

Sergio just rolled his eyes in response. 

“did Alberto injure him in anyway?” Raquel butted in 

“yes actually, he elbowed Sergio right in the ribs again, so the doctors wrapped him in some sort of bandage to stop any type of irregular movement as they heal, but at least he is now in police custody and were going to sue him so hard he’s going to regret ever stepping into your life.” he said serious in a tone that spooked Raquel, but that didn’t last long till... 

“but did you know that Sergio punched him in the nose” he laughed “your friend Alicia told me that he got a nose bleed” 

She knew it wasn’t the best time to laugh, but goddamn Alberto deserved that. Her and Andres laughed as Sergio covered his face, she came over and gave him a kiss on the forehead saying thank you them Andres informed her “Raquel why don’t you take a break now, I’m here and Silene will be coming soon so you don’t have to visit so much anymore.” 

She looked at Sergio and he slowly nodded yes saying that it was fine if she went “are you sure? It’s not that much trouble,” 

“Raquel it’s fine, at least take a break for a week or something, I’m not saying to stop coming, but just that you don’t need to worry.” 

“Okay, thank you Andres” she smiled “and thank you Sergio, for giving that man what he deserves, I’ll see you a week... or something” she kissed his cheek and headed out.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for making it to the end, tell me what you think about this in the comments below.  
> kudos are greatly appreciated <3
> 
> You can find me @lcdp_moneyheist_ on instagram for lots of moneyheist and Serquel content.


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